The 2014 Manufacturing and Logistics Report shows how each state ranks among its peers in several areas of the economy that underlie the success of manufacturing and logistics.
These specific measures include the health of the manufacturing and logistics industries, the state of human capital, the cost of worker benefits, diversification of the industries, state-level productivity and innovation, expected fiscal liability, the state tax climate, and global reach.
About the Grades
The categories in this report were chosen as those most likely to be considered by site selection experts for manufacturing and logistics firms, and by the prevailing economic research on growth.
Each category included multiple variables for each state that were aggregated and then ranked 1st through 50th, with 1st being the most desirable. Within each category, the lowest aggregate score assigned provided the overall rank. Grades were assigned A through F using a normal distribution of grades commonly known as a bell curve. Plus and minus scores were not assigned to A or F grades.