Business consulting firm Venture Smarter released a report on the Best States for Business Growth and they ranked South Carolina as being the 6th best in the country.
To come up with their rankings, the company analyzed data from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics to discover the business growth rate in each state based on the number of establishments in December 2021 compared to December 2022.
Top of the list is Georgia, with a business growth rate of 13.50%. In December 2022, there were 397,515 business establishments compared to 350,189 in December 2021. Corporate income tax is set at a rate of 5.75% in Georgia, with the state also offering job tax credit to reduce corporate tax liability for eligible businesses.
In second place is Virginia, which witnessed a business growth rate of 10.50%; the number of businesses increased from 305,345 in December 2021 to 337,394 one year later. The state offers many small business incentive programs, including the Virginia Enterprise Zone, which has many benefits, from tax exemption for rehabilitated structures to tax credits for creating employment.
As mentioned, South Carolina is in sixth place; the state witnessed the number of establishments grow from 155,945 in December 2021 to 170,968 in December 2022, resulting in a business growth rate of 9.60%. South Carolina offers incentives for new businesses registered as a corporation, such as no local income tax, no state property tax, and no inventory tax.
On the opposite end of the scale, Washington has the worst business growth rate of -16.80%. The state had 284,440 establishments in December 2022, which decreased by 47,644 in December 2022; Washington was the only state to witness a decrease of establishments.
Here’s the top ten:
