What does it mean to be a good state for business? CNBC put out its annual ranking last week, and the top five are Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, and Minnesota. Most of the factors in a state’s ranking are things like its infrastructure, workforce, and regulatory environment, but within the “quality of life” category there’s another contributor: abortion rights.
Of the top five states, four have some degree of protected abortion rights. Minnesota has strong access to reproductive healthcare. North Carolina has access to abortion through 12 weeks but the procedure is heavily restricted afterwards. Virginians will vote whether to enshrine abortion in their state constitution later this year. Ohioans voted in favor of a similar amendment in 2023, but state Republicans keep passing bills that enact further restrictions, like a 24-hour waiting period.
And then there’s Texas. The state has a near-total ban on abortion, and yet it ranks the fourth-best U.S. state for business. CNBC says reproductive rights are included in the “quality of life” category of its methodology because younger workers say they prefer not to live in states that ban abortion; it’s a workforce issue. But quality of life represents only 11.6% of a state’s ranking on this scoring system, and reproductive rights are only one tiny part of that. Overall, Texas ranks 49th on quality of life driven by poor health care overall. And yet its “business-friendliness” (another category) clearly outweighed its failings on this ranking and with several companies, with businesses from Yum Brands to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq either relocating or launching additional presences there.
The organization Don’t Ban Equality has been fighting to mobilize businesses in favor of abortion access for years. The group is calling attention to this ranking and whether it fully understands what it means to be “good for business.” “What the rankings do not fully capture is whether states can recruit, retain, and support the workforce corporate investments depend on over time,” Don’t Ban Equality’s Jen Stark says. “The reality of a two-tier workforce means executives and knowledge workers may experience a top-ranking business state as affordable, efficient, and opportunity-rich, while hourly workers may experience the same state as low-wage, low-benefit, healthcare deserts, and have multiple barriers to moving including employment.”
In the long-term, these divides can multiply, creating narrower candidate pools and putting more pressure on companies to solve problems ultimately created by state policy—definitely a business issue.
We all know rankings only show so much. But when states proudly proclaim they’re the best for business, it’s worth taking a moment to consider what that really means.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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