The good news is that Massachusetts has retained its number-one ranking in the California-based Milken Institute’s annual New Economy Index, which measures states by their potential for high-tech growth. The Bay State finished in the top 10 in all but two of the index’s 12 criteria, benefiting from a highly educated population; venture capital investment and IPO proceeds; and plenty of research-and-development funding from industry, academic institutions, and the federal government. The more puzzling news, given these advantages, is the state’s middling ranking (19th) for business starts in 1999. Nevada and Florida, two Sun Belt states with booming populations, take the top spots in that category, but the Northeastern states of New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Connecticut also finished ahead of Massachusetts. The Bay State is still number one in the percentage of population with college degrees, raising the possibility that people here are simply smarter than they are enterprising.
Milken Insitutue New Economy Index, 2001
Rank | State | Score | Change In Rank From 2000 | Change In Score From 2000 |
1. | Massachusetts | 93.0 | 0 | 0.7 |
2. | California | 85.3 | 0 | -0.2 |
3. | Colorado | 83.5 | 1 | 0.8 |
4. | Connecticut | 82.7 | -1 | -1.0 |
5. | Maryland | 78.3 | 1 | 0.2 |
6. | New York | 77.0 | 22 | 2.5 |
7. | Washington | 75.8 | -2 | -3.2 |
8. | Delaware | 71.5 | 3 | 1.7 |
9. | New Jersey | 71.2 | -2 | -3.5 |
10. | New Hampshire | 69.7 | -1 | -1.5 |
11. | Utah | 69.2 | 1 | 0.3 |
12. | Texas | 65.5 | 4 | 2.2 |
13. | Arizona | 62.8 | 5 | 2.0 |
14. | Oregon | 62.2 | 0 | -4.8 |
15. | Virginia | 61.7 | -2 | -6.3 |
16. | Rhode Island | 61.5 | 1 | -0.5 |
17. | Illinois | 61.3 | 4 | 2.8 |
18. | Minnesota | 60.5 | 2 | 1.2 |
19. | Pennsylvania | 60.5 | 3 | 3.3 |
20. | Georgia | 60.2 | -1 | 0.3 |
21. | New Mexico | 59.8 | -11 | -10.7 |
22. | Michigan | 57.2 | 1 | 1.8 |
23. | Vermont | 57.2 | -8 | -7.2 |
24. | North Carolina | 56.8 | 0 | 3.0 |
25. | Florida | 50.3 | 0 | -2.0 |
26. | Kansas | 48.0 | 3 | 5.5 |
27. | Ohio | 47.8 | -1 | -0.2 |
28. | Missouri | 47.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
29. | Idaho | 46.8 | -2 | -0.5 |
30. | Hawaii | 46.5 | 1 | 4.5 |
31. | Wisconsin | 45.7 | -1 | 3.2 |
32. | Alabama | 42.0 | 2 | 1.8 |
33. | Tennessee | 41.5 | -1 | 0.0 |
34. | Alaska | 40.0 | -1 | -0.3 |
35. | Indiana | 38.3 | 3 | 4.3 |
36. | Montana | 35.3 | 0 | -1.7 |
37. | Nevada | 33.7 | 0 | -1.2 |
38. | Iowa | 32.8 | 5 | 3.7 |
39. | Louisiana | 32.2 | 6 | 4.7 |
40. | Nebraska | 32.2 | 2 | 2.0 |
41. | Oklahoma | 30.7 | -1 | -0.5 |
42. | South Carolina | 30.5 | -3 | -1.8 |
43. | Maine | 30.2 | -8 | -7.7 |
44. | Kentucky | 27.0 | 2 | 2.2 |
45. | North Dakota | 25.8 | -4 | -4.3 |
46. | Wyoming | 24.7 | -2 | -3.0 |
47. | Mississippi | 24.2 | 0 | 0.7 |
48. | West Virginia | 21.7 | 1 | 5.3 |
49. | South Dakota | 19.3 | -1 | -0.2 |
50. | Arkansas | 11.5 | 0 | 1.5 |
Business Starts 1999
Rank | State | Business Starts (per 100,000 Population), 1999 |
1. | Nevada | 87.16 |
2. | Florida | 79.06 |
3. | New Jersey | 73.75 |
4. | Colorado | 72.56 |
5. | New York | 71.91 |
6. | California | 67.90 |
7. | Georgia | 65.32 |
8. | Oregon | 63.15 |
9. | Arizona | 63.14 |
10. | Delaware | 61.71 |
11. | Washington | 58.58 |
12. | Utah | 58.41 |
13. | Idaho | 58.32 |
14. | Texas | 57.65 |
15. | Connecticut | 57.62 |
16. | New Hampshire | 56.28 |
17. | North Carolina | 55.01 |
18. | Maryland | 54.01 |
19. | Massachusetts | 53.62 |
20. | South Carolina | 51.21 |
21. | Alabama | 49.80 |
22. | Alaska | 48.43 |
23. | Tennessee | 48.18 |
24. | Illinois | 46.78 |
25. | Virginia | 46.25 |
26. | Montana | 46.22 |
27. | Wyoming | 45.45 |
28. | Hawaii | 45.13 |
29. | Rhode Island | 44.61 |
30. | Michigan | 43.69 |
31. | Minnesota | 43.66 |
32. | Mississippi | 43.52 |
33. | New Mexico | 43.34 |
34. | Pennsylvania | 43.21 |
35. | Arkansas | 41.90 |
36. | Missouri | 41.88 |
37. | Maine | 40.94 |
38. | Wisconsin | 40.72 |
39. | Louisiana | 39.68 |
40. | Indiana | 39.12 |
41. | South Dakota | 39.01 |
42. | Kentucky | 38.33 |
43. | Oklahoma | 38.18 |
44. | Ohio | 37.94 |
45. | Kansas | 37.23 |
46. | Nebraska | 36.85 |
47. | Vermont | 36.55 |
48. | Iowa | 35.37 |
49. | North Dakota | 35.03 |
50. | West Virginia | 26.01 |
Source: Milken Institute, New Economy Index 2001