Site selection factors
2008
2007
Ranking
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
Highway accessibility
Labor costs
Occupancy and construction costs
Tax exemptions
Energy availability and costs
Availability of skilled labor
State and local incentives
Corporate tax rate
Low union profile
Available land
Availability of buildings
Proximity to major markets
Right-to-work state
Environmental regulations
Expedited or “fast-track” permitting
Proximity to suppliers
Availability of long-term financing
Availability of unskilled labor
Training programs
Raw materials availability
Availability of advanced ICT services
Accessibility to major airport
Proximity to technical university
Railroad service
Waterway or oceanport accessibility
95.4
91.4
90.4
88.6
87.9
87.7
87.2
85.3
82.7
82.0
80.8
78.7
76.6
76.1
72.5
69.2
64.2
62.9
62.3
56.8
55.5
53.3
38. 4
27. 2
15. 7
96.9 ( 1)**
92.3 ( 2)
88.2 ( 5)
82.8 (10T)
89.0 ( 3)
88.7 ( 4)
83.4 ( 8)
83.8 ( 7)
80.6 ( 13)
85.4 ( 6)
79.3 (14)
82.8 (10T)
72.1 ( 15)
83.2 ( 9)
71.5 ( 17)
71.8 ( 16)
63.0 ( 19)
65.2 ( 18)
56.6 ( 21)
62.5 ( 20)
82.2 ( 12)
54.4 ( 22)
32. 7 ( 24)
38. 1 ( 23)
15. 2 ( 25)
Quality-of-life factors
Ranking
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Low crime rate
Healthcare facilities
Housing costs
Housing availability
Ratings of public schools
Climate
Colleges and universities in area
Recreational opportunities
Cultural opportunities
78.2
77.6
67.1
66.2
65.7
56.0
55.3
48.6
46.4
74.0 ( 1)
57.4 ( 5)
58.8 ( 4)
62.1 ( 3)
62.6 ( 2)
51.6 ( 6)
47.3 ( 8)
43.4 ( 9)
48.7 ( 7)
*All figures are percentages and are the total of “very important” and “important” ratings
of the Area Development Corporate Survey and are rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent.
(2007 ranking)
