NEW: Rhode Island Ranks 49th For Business–CNBC Study

Rhode Island ranked #49 in the country for business in a study developed by television network CNBC. Rhode Island's #49 place finish behind West Virginia in CNBC's America's Top States For Business is a slight improvement from the 2012 ranking, as the state came in dead last. This year, Rhode Island managed to beat out Hawaii for the position. Rhode Island highest subranking in the study was in Quality of Life, coming in at #20. On the other hand, the state ranked the lowest in Economy, coming in at #49, beating out only Nevada.

America's Top States For Business

To determine the rankings for CNBC's exclusive seventh annual study, America's Top States for Business, the network decided to evaluate the states based on the criteria they use to sell themselves. Each state was scored on over 50 different measures of competitiveness, developed with the help of business organizations such as The National Association of Manufacturers and The Council on Competitiveness, as well as the states themselves. States received points based on their rankings, then separated into ten broad categories including Economy, Cost of Doing Business, Workforce, and Quality of Life. These categories were weighted based on how frequently they are cited as selling points in state marketing materials.

Last year, Rhode Island faired extremely poorly in the rankings. Landing at #50 overall, the state was in the bottom 10 for six out of the ten categories used to compile the rankings. According to CNBC, Governor Lincoln Chafee "said that while he would not contend with our findings, he prefers to look at the bigger picture."

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Rolling out the states

CNBC began revealing the results of its extensive survey on July 8th, and Senior Correspondent Scott Cohn revealed the top state Tuesday on "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo". Top honors for the overall ranking went to South Dakota, while Hawaii came in last place. The complete results of America's Best States for Business will be broadcasted during the network's Business Day programming through this Thursday, July 11th. CNBC also has the complete rankings available on its website, which includes an in-depth look at each state's respective rankings.

Head to topstates.cnbc.com for details about each state including economic snapshots (employment, budget, tax and housing data) and exclusive stories and slideshows drilling down into the various top-ranking categories including Technology, Quality of Life, and Most Improved States.

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