FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky has tied for fifth place nationally on Site Selection magazine’s 2021 Prosperity Cup list, an annual ranking of the nation’s top states for business climate.
Kentucky’s top-5 placement in the 2021 rankings reflects recent growth in the commonwealth; the state ranked ninth overall the previous year. In addition to its strong showing nationally, Kentucky ranked No. 2 in the South Central region, a rise from the fourth position in 2020.
Site Selection determines its Prosperity Cup rankings based on overall and per 1 million population figures for several criteria from the previous calendar year, including new and expanded facilities, capital investment, and jobs created based on those projects. The criteria also considers each state’s ranking in the corporate real estate executive portion of the 2020 Site Selection Business Climate Ranking; state tax climate as ranked by the Tax Foundation; performance in the Beacon Hill Institute’s State Competitiveness Index; and the number of National Career Readiness Certificates per 1,000 residents ages 18-64, according to ACT – Workforce Development Division, administrator of the ACT Certified Work Ready Communities initiative.
In 2020, Kentucky announced 233 new location and expansion projects, according to data from the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. Those projects are expected to create nearly 8,000 jobs with the highest average hourly wages in years.
Last year, rural counties attracted 121 – more than 52% – of the 233 private-sector projects announced, while 112 went to the 10 most-populated counties: Jefferson, Fayette, Kenton, Boone, Warren, Hardin, Daviess, Campbell, Madison and Bullitt. Urban counties will claim 4,372 of the new jobs announced – about 55% – and rural counties account for 3,567, or nearly 45%.
In March, Site Selection’s annual Governor’s Cup rankings for 2020 positioned Kentucky atop the South Central region, and third nationally, for qualifying projects per capita. The commonwealth also placed seventh overall in total projects, the highest of any state with a population under 5 million.
View Site Selection’s full 2021 Prosperity Cup rankings here.
