Our flagship index
Red Tape 50
The general performance ranking of all 50 US states across fiscal, land use, labor, growth, affordability, infrastructure, cost of business, business climate, and permitting.
50 states ranked · 9 dimensions · 500 cities tracked · refreshed quarterly
The live 2026 composite. Hover any state for its nine-dimension breakdown; click to open the rankings.
2026 leaders
The US regulatory landscape, one number per state
Red Tape 50 is the flagship index of the Red Tape Index. It distills the US regulatory landscape into a single composite rank for every state, aggregating nine dimensions: fiscal policy, land use, labor, population growth, affordability, infrastructure, cost of business, business friendliness, and approval velocity.
The go-to ranking for capital movement
Where it is easier to build and operate, capital follows. Site selectors, builders, investors, and policymakers read it before committing capital.
Every dimension, every state
Nine independent dimensions per state, from fiscal policy to approval velocity, aggregated into one defensible composite rank.
A detailed profile for every state
Composite rank, pillar-by-pillar breakdown with sources, permitting performance, and how CNBC, US News, and WalletHub see it.
Official data provider for
America's Top States for Business
CNBC built its 2026 state rankings with our permitting data. Our founder Stuart Lacey appears in the segment at the 1:55 mark.
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