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Kentucky ranked 28th by Forbes for Best States for Business & Careers

Ranking is five spots better than last year

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 18, 2015) — Kentucky has been ranked 28th in Forbes’ 10th annual Best States for Business & Careers, up five spots from last year. Kentucky was ranked No. 14 in business costs, No. 46 in labor supply, No. 32 in regulatory environment, No. 20 in economic climate, No. 23 in growth prospects and No. 23 in quality of life.

forbesForbes states, “Kentucky is best known for its horse racing, bourbon distilleries, automobile manufacturing, tobacco and college basketball. Horse racing is a $4 billion industry in the state and the Kentucky Derby Run for the Roses generates more than $400 million annually in economic impact for Kentucky. The state has 474 motor vehicle-related facilities that employ 86,672 workers. Kentucky produces the third most cars of any state in the U.S.”

Among the 40 criteria Forbes used to rank states Kentucky’s highest ranking was No. 7 in five-year income growth (2.5 percent) and its lowest was No. 47 in health of the populous and No. 47 for college attainment, consisting of only 22.2 percent of the adult population, according to Forbes.

Kentucky, which has a $189 billion gross state product, had a job growth of 2 percent in 2015 and the cost of doing business in Kentucky is 5.5 percent below the national average, according to Forbes.

Utah was ranked No. 1 on the list, followed by North Carolina, Nebraska, North Dakota, Colorado, Texas, Virginia, South Dakota and Washington.