SALT LAKE CITY — Anyone planning to start a business here in the upcoming New Year has come to the right place.
That’s the conclusion of a recent study that ranked Utah as the fifth-best state in the nation for business ventures in terms of economic, workforce, infrastructure, costs and tax factors.
“Business owners are operating in a far more complex environment than they were even five years ago,” according to Mark Davies, a spokesperson for Davies and Associates, a law firm specializing in immigration law that performed the research into the U.S. business climate.
“Costs matter,” he acknowledged, “but access to skilled workers, reliable infrastructure and economic stability are what keep businesses alive over the long run.”
Analysts at Davies and Associates set out to identify which U.S. states are expected to offer business owners the strongest foundation to start, operate and grow in 2026.
By analyzing economic momentum, work force quality, innovation, infrastructures, business costs and taxes across all 50 states, Davies explained, the recent research revealed clear winners, unexpected trade-offs and reasons why some states continue to out-perform others despite high cost or population losses.
That study found that Utah’s business climate ranked fifth in the nation, trailing closely behind Washington, Massachusetts, California and Virginia.
Researchers cited Utah for having the fastest growing gross domestic product rate in the nation at 7 percent. Employment growth is also strong at nearly 2.5 percent, ranking third nationwide.
Utah’s energy costs are a major advantage, with the lowest average electricity cost index in the study. While the state regrettably loses some college-educated workers, its strong local pipeline and fast-growing economy continue to fuel business expansion.
Utah’s performance reflects a state benefiting from both population growth and pro-growth infrastructure, the analysts reported.
The Beehive State’s average commute time of 22 minutes also adds quality-of-life appeal for many workers.
The Davies and Associates study was based on data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the U.S. Energy Information Administration, among other sources.
“What we’re seeing is that businesses are willing to tolerate higher costs if the ecosystem supports growth,” Davies explains. “Strong universities, innovation funding and labor productivity often matter more than tax rates alone.
“The states ranking highest are the ones that actively invest in workforce development and economic resilience,” he adds, noting that the gap between winning and losing states continues to widen.
“For business owners, choosing the right state can mean the difference between scaling successfully and struggling to stay afloat.”
Additional information about Davies and Associates can be found by going online to https://www.usimmigrationadvisor.com/E2-visa-investor.html
Based in New York City, Davies and Associates is a global law firm that specializes in helping foreign clients set up new and exciting businesses in the United States.