See where Florida ranks among best states to start a business

Florida is ranked No. 2 in a new study of the best and worst U.S. states to start a business, trailing only Utah and edging out Texas.

WalletHub, according to a news release, compared the 50 states across 27 key indicators of startup success to determine which ones have the best and worst business environment, access to resources and business costs for entrepreneurs.

Florida, the release states, is No. 1 in business environment, whose metrics include average length of work week, growth in number of small businesses, startups per capita, industry variety, job growth, GDP growth and share of fast-growing firms. The Sunshine State is 14th in access to resources and 24th in business costs.

Utah is ranked No. 1 in the access to resources category, while Oklahoma takes the top spot in business costs.

The worst state in which to start a business, meanwhile, is Alaska. Rhode Island, New Jersey, West Virginia and Connecticut make up the rest of the worst five, with West Virginia ranking dead last in both business environment and access to resources.

Colorado and Idaho, meanwhile, round out the best five. California, somewhat surprisingly, managed to crack the top 10, thanks to its strong showings in business environment (No. 2) and access to resources (No. 2). The Golden State, however, ranks 49th in business costs.