Image Credit: Chip Glover / CC & Public Domain
Published May 13, 2021
The Center Square [By Jason Schaumburg] –
Tennessee’s economic outlook ranks 12th in the U.S. in the American Legislative Exchange Council Center for State Fiscal Reform’s 2021 Rich States, Poor States competitive index.
The report uses 15 equally weighted policy variables to rank the economic competitiveness of states, including various tax rates, regulatory burdens and labor policies.
The index also ranks each state in economic performance by examining data over the past 10 years in cumulative GDP growth, cumulative domestic migration and nonfarm employment growth.
Tennessee’s 12th-place ranking in economic outlook for 2021 was four spots below its ranking in 2020. In the 15 policy variables used to determine economic outlook, Tennessee ranked in the top 10 for top marginal personal tax rate (first), personal income tax progressivity (second), property tax burden (third), no estate/inheritance tax levied (first), minimum wage (first at $7.25 an hour), average workers’ compensation costs (10th), being a right-to-work state and tax expenditure limits (second).
The state ranked 13th in economic performance, finishing 16th in cumulative GDP growth, eighth in cumulative domestic migration and 12th in nonfarm employment growth.
The American Legislative Exchange Council is the largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators in the United States. It is governed by state legislators who comprise the Board of Directors and is advised by the Private Enterprise Advisory Council, a group of private, foundation and think tank members.
About the Author:
Jason Schaumburg, The Center Square Managing Editor
Jason Schaumburg is an award-winning, veteran editor who has been a journalist for more than 20 years. He spent a decade as the top editor in three northern Illinois newsrooms for Shaw Media and Pioneer Press.
