Since 2007, business channel CNBC has compiled, using various economic indicators, a “best states for business” survey. Over the years, I’ve followed that survey and when I began blogging in 2014, I started summarizing the state’s rankings to see how the rankings changed as the state’s politics swung from conservative Democratic to conservative and pro-business Republican. So, each summer I post, with the release of that year's survey, West Virginia’s ranking with some of its previous rankings. So:

With the CNBC's most recent numbers, West Virginia made more gains than losses and the overall score improved. I found the most surprising gain to be in education and I would be curious as to what brought about a jump from #32 to #10 in light of a further abandoning of state support for public education on all levels. (Note that the U.S. News list cited below has our education number at #48.) Why the huge discrepancy?

Curious, I looked for additional 2024 state business rankings. From U.S. News and World Report's most recent survey:

Additionally, WalletHub placed West Virginia at 49th in their most recent “State Economy Rankings.” Here are the states economically ranked 42 through 51. (The last four columns are for total score, economic activity rank, economic health rank, and innovation potential rank.)

In the past, I've received some comments from readers. Any thoughts?