22. Oregon

Leave it to the Beaver State to offer an idyllic quality of life and a healthy economy, but also a struggling education system and high cost of living.

Published 4:16 PM ET Tue, 24 June 2014 Updated 4:36 PM ET Mon, 7 July 2014 CNBC.com

Category	Score	2014 Rank	2013 Rank
Cost of Doing Business	194	33	36
Workforce	119	39	39
Quality of Life	200	13	8
Infrastructure & Transportation	195	23	13
Economy	273	10	16
Education	54	39 (Tie)	26
Technology & Innovation	175	22	14
Business Friendliness	101	26	25
Cost of Living	14	37	38
Access to Capital	18	15 (Tie)	11
Overall	1343	22	17

Economic Profile

Governor: John Kitzhaber, Democrat

Population: 3,930,065

GDP growth: 2.7 percent

Unemployment rate (May 2014): 6.9 percent

Top corporate tax rate: 7.6 percent

Top individual income tax rate: 9.9 percent

Gasoline tax: 49 cents/gallon

Bond rating/outlook: Aa1/stable

Major private employer: Intel

Economic profile sources: Federation of Tax Administrators, American Petroleum Institute, Moody's Investor Service, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Portland Business Journal

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