Most expensive states to start a business

One of the most stressful things a person can do is start a new business, in part because there are so many moving parts and costs that are hard to predict. While equity distribution, staff size, product pricing and investment can all drive prospective business owners up a wall, one of the most important choices to make is where to set up shop.

While averages are heavily variant across different fields, studies show the cumulative costs of starting a business typically average about $30,000. Around 543,000 new businesses are opened every month, and if that trend is to continue, hundreds of thousands of future business owners will have to make the pivotal decision of where to plant their flags.

Stacker referenced data from WalletHub in order to rank the best states for beginning a new business. The rankings are aggregated from the states' corporate taxes, their respective costs of living and the affordability of office space (listed by average price per square foot).

Read on to see where you may want to start your next business.

RELATED: Click here to see successful entrepreneurs who built companies after hitting 40.

Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau // Wikimedia Commons

1 / 50

#50. Oklahoma

Office space affordability: $14.57 per SF (rank: #14/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #9/50
Cost of living rank: #3/50

NatalieMaynor // Flickr

2 / 50

#49. Mississippi

Office space affordability: $14.06 per SF (rank: #12/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #11/50
Cost of living rank: #1/50

Ken L./ Wikimedia Commons

3 / 50

#48. Michigan

Office space affordability: $15.07 per SF (rank: #19/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #8/50
Cost of living rank: #4/50

Tim Kiser // Wikicommons

4 / 50

#47. West Virginia

Office space affordability: $15.54 per SF (rank: #23/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #17/50
Cost of living rank: #23/50

OPMaster // Wikimedia Commons

5 / 50

#46. Kentucky

Office space affordability: $14.61 per SF (rank: #15/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #27/50
Cost of living rank: #16/50

Jon Platek // Wikimedia Commons

6 / 50

#45. South Dakota

Office space affordability: $12.76 per SF (rank: #3/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #1/50
Cost of living rank: #27/50

Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce // Flickr

7 / 50

#44. Idaho

Office space affordability: $13.61 per SF (rank: #9/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #25/50
Cost of living rank: #13/50

Pruhter // Wikimedia Commons

8 / 50

#43. Montana

Office space affordability: $13.18 per SF (rank: #4/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #12/50
Cost of living rank: #31/50

IIP Photo Archive // Flickr

9 / 50

#42. Alabama

Office space affordability: $14.77 per SF (rank: #18/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #22/50
Cost of living rank: #8/50

Pat Hawks // Flickr

10 / 50

#41. Nebraska

Office space affordability: $13.83 per SF (rank: #10/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #28/50
Cost of living rank: #15/50

Bruce W. Stracener // Wikimedia Commons

11 / 50

#40. Arkansas

Office space affordability: $15.41 per SF (rank: #22/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #39/50
Cost of living rank: #2/50

Kaldari // Wikimedia Commons

12 / 50

#39. Tennessee

Office space affordability: $16.13 per SF (rank: #28/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #21/50
Cost of living rank: #5/50

Tim // Wikicommons

13 / 50

#38. South Carolina

Office space affordability: $15.37 per SF (rank: #21/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #15/50
Cost of living rank: #27/50

James Willamor // Flickr

14 / 50

#37. North Carolina

Office space affordability: $17.56 per SF (rank: #35/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #3/50
Cost of living rank: #18/50

Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau // Flickr

15 / 50

#36. Louisiana

Office space affordability: $15.58 per SF (rank: #24/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #40/50
Cost of living rank: #17/50

IIP Photo Archive // Flickr

16 / 50

#35. Texas

Office space affordability: $14.06 per SF (rank: #12/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #49/50
Cost of living rank: #11/50

Reinhard Kraasch // Wikimedia Commons

17 / 50

#34. Georgia

Office space affordability: $15.75 per SF (rank: #25/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #10/50
Cost of living rank: #9/50

Jasssmit // Wikimedia Commons

18 / 50

#33. Indiana

Office space affordability: $14.03 per SF (rank: #11/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #23/50
Cost of living rank: #10/50

Ken L. // Flickr

19 / 50

#32. New Mexico

Office space affordability: $15.29 per SF (rank: #20/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #24/50
Cost of living rank: #19/50

Sam valadi // Flickr

20 / 50

#31. Missouri

Office space affordability: $16.79 per SF (rank: #31/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #5/50
Cost of living rank: #6/50

Sean Pavone // Shutterstock

21 / 50

#30. Kansas

Office space affordability: $14.64 per SF (rank: #16/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #38/50
Cost of living rank: #7/50

Ken L. // Flickr

22 / 50

#29. Maine

Office space affordability: $12.64 per SF (rank: #2/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #41/50
Cost of living rank: #38/50

Alan Stark // Flickr

23 / 50

#28. Arizona

Office space affordability: $17.96 per SF (rank: #38/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #13/50
Cost of living rank: #20/50

Robbt // Flickr

24 / 50

#27. Ohio

Office space affordability: $13.37 per SF (rank: #6/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #47/50
Cost of living rank: #14/50

UltraView Admin // Flickr

25 / 50

#26. Florida

Office space affordability: $17.63 per SF (rank: #36/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #19/50
Cost of living rank: #26/50

Michel Rathwell // Flickr

26 / 50

#25. Wyoming

Office space affordability: $16.87 per SF (rank: #32/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #1/50
Cost of living rank: #20/50

Bob P. B. // Flickr

27 / 50

#24. Vermont

Office space affordability: $14.75 per SF (rank: #17/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #37/50
Cost of living rank: #40/50

Miwdke // Wikimedia Commons

28 / 50

#23. Wisconsin

Office space affordability: $13.52 per SF (rank: #7/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #29/50
Cost of living rank: #24/50

IIP Photo Archive // Flickr

29 / 50

#22. Nevada

Office space affordability: $15.75 per SF (rank: #25/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #33/50
Cost of living rank: #36/50

JoshWest.com // Flickr

30 / 50

#21. Iowa

Office space affordability: $12.08 per SF (rank: #1/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #48/50
Cost of living rank: #12/50

Ron Reiring // Wikimedia Commons

31 / 50

#20. North Dakota

Office space affordability: Not available per SF (rank: #N/A/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #16/50
Cost of living rank: #29/50

Larry Johnson // Flickr

32 / 50

#19. Colorado

Office space affordability: $17.43 per SF (rank: #34/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #18/50
Cost of living rank: #34/50

Garrett // Wikimedia Commons

33 / 50

#18. Utah

Office space affordability: $19.91 per SF (rank: #46/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #4/50
Cost of living rank: #22/50

Jim // Wikimedia Commons

34 / 50

#17. Virginia

Office space affordability: $19.06 per SF (rank: #43/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #6/50
Cost of living rank: #33/50

Reading Tom // Flickr

35 / 50

#16. Rhode Island

Office space affordability: $15.85 per SF (rank: #27/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #30/50
Cost of living rank: #42/50

M.O. Stevens // Wikimedia Commons

36 / 50

#15. Oregon

Office space affordability: $18.36 per SF (rank: #39/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #34/50
Cost of living rank: #45/50

Jordan // Flickr

37 / 50

#14. Pennsylvania

Office space affordability: $17.06 per SF (rank: #33/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #44/50
Cost of living rank: #32/50

Tony Webster // Flickr

38 / 50

#13. Illinois

Office space affordability: $16.32 per SF (rank: #29/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #36/50
Cost of living rank: #25/50

AlexiusHoratius // Wikimedia Commons

39 / 50

#12. Minnesota

Office space affordability: $13.32 per SF (rank: #5/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #43/50
Cost of living rank: #29/50

John Phelan // Wikimedia Commons

40 / 50

#11. New Hampshire

Office space affordability: $13.56 per SF (rank: #8/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #45/50
Cost of living rank: #39/50

Lonni Besan√ßon // Flickr

41 / 50

#10. Washington

Office space affordability: $18.51 per SF (rank: #40/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #46/50
Cost of living rank: #37/50

likeaduck // Flickr

42 / 50

#9. Delaware

Office space affordability: $18.71 per SF (rank: #41/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #50/50
Cost of living rank: #35/50

Anthony Quintano // Flickr

43 / 50

#8. Hawaii

Office space affordability: $17.84 per SF (rank: #37/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #14/50
Cost of living rank: #50/50

GoodFreePhotos

44 / 50

#7. Massachusetts

Office space affordability: $16.36 per SF (rank: #30/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #35/50
Cost of living rank: #48/50

Joe Wolf // Flickr

45 / 50

#6. Maryland

Office space affordability: $19.46 per SF (rank: #45/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #20/50
Cost of living rank: #44/50

JJBers // Flickr

46 / 50

#5. Connecticut

Office space affordability: $18.77 per SF (rank: #42/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #31/50
Cost of living rank: #43/50

Joe Parks // Wikimedia Commons

47 / 50

#4. California

Office space affordability: $23.08 per SF (rank: #47/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #32/50
Cost of living rank: #49/50

Paxson Woelber // Flickr

48 / 50

#3. Alaska

Office space affordability: $24.20 per SF (rank: #48/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #26/50
Cost of living rank: #46/50

John St John // Flickr

49 / 50

#2. New York

Office space affordability: $26.66 per SF (rank: #49/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #7/50
Cost of living rank: #47/50

King of Hearts // Wikimedia Commons

50 / 50

#1. New Jersey

Office space affordability: $19.30 per SF (rank: #44/50)
Corporate taxes rank: #42/50
Cost of living rank: #41/50

Most expensive states to start a business

#50. Oklahoma

#49. Mississippi

#48. Michigan

#47. West Virginia

#46. Kentucky

#45. South Dakota

#44. Idaho

#43. Montana

#42. Alabama

#41. Nebraska

#40. Arkansas

#39. Tennessee

#38. South Carolina

#37. North Carolina

#36. Louisiana

#35. Texas

#34. Georgia

#33. Indiana

#32. New Mexico

#31. Missouri

#30. Kansas

#29. Maine

#28. Arizona

#27. Ohio

#26. Florida

#25. Wyoming

#24. Vermont

#23. Wisconsin

#22. Nevada

#21. Iowa

#20. North Dakota

#19. Colorado

#18. Utah

#17. Virginia

#16. Rhode Island

#15. Oregon

#14. Pennsylvania

#13. Illinois

#12. Minnesota

#11. New Hampshire

#10. Washington

#9. Delaware

#8. Hawaii

#7. Massachusetts

#6. Maryland

#5. Connecticut

#4. California

#3. Alaska

#2. New York

#1. New Jersey

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