Where do WA and OR Rank On The List? Surprising Data

WalletHub has just released their 2026 edition of the Best and Worst States to open a business.

Where do WA and Oregon Rank?

WalletHub is a national website that connects people with all sorts of financing, credit, credit card and other financial services, and every year they crunch a lot of numbers.

To establish which states are the best or worst to start a new business, they look over at least 20 different categories, which are broken into 3 main groups. They are Business Environment, Access to Resources, and Business Costs. Environment includes not just taxes, regulations, but also the growth climate and 'friendliness' factor toward new businesses. Resources including financing etc.

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In their 2026 edition, we find Washington and Oregon ranked OK or high in one category, but poorly in others. The overall numbers are used to compile the rankings.

The overall five best states to start a new business are, 1) Florida, 2) Utah, 3) Texas, 4) Oklahoma and 5) Idaho. Montana landed 12th.

Surprisingly, California was 10th, but ranking at the bottom (49th) in business costs torpedoed them. They were 1st in Resources, and 3rd in Business Environment, but the operational costs kill off many newer operations.

Why is WA State ranked 38th overall?

Our state did well in Resources, ranking 4th overall. Lots of financing and support. But in Business Environment we were 42nd. and Business Cost, 43rd. This would have to do with all the recent taxes, regulations, and other burdens piled on businesses over the last 5-10 years.

Oregon was 25th in Business Environment, 26th in Business Resources, but 41st in Business Costs, dragging them down to 36th overall.

The overall worst states to start a new business were New Jersey, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, and coming in 50th, or dead last overall, Rhode Island.