by Josh Bays, on Jul 21, 2015 4:32:00 PM
When choosing a location for a new manufacturing plant, it is best to focus on communities that offer the best mix of characteristics that will support long-term operations. Site Selection Group scored and ranked all 50 states based on critical site selection factors.
Site Selection Group provides site selection consulting and economic incentive services for manufacturing 
operations in a variety of industries. Although location drivers vary by site selection project, Site Selection Group recommends developing a set of balanced criteria when choosing the location for a new manufacturing plant.
“Any site selection decision comes with tradeoffs,” said Josh Bays, Principal of Site Selection Group’s Industrial Practice. “No one location is going to be the most competitive in every aspect. Therefore, Site Selection Group finds those locations that offer the optimal mix of characteristics that will best suit the long-term operations of our clients.”
Those characteristics that typically drive location decisions include workforce availability and costs, transportation and logistics, business environment, regulatory climate, utilities and infrastructure, real estate and economic incentives.
Ranking the most competitive states for manufacturing
Using its proprietary GeoCision™ analysis, Site Selection Group ranked all 50 states based on weighted site selection variables that measure six primary factors. These factors are not comprehensive, but they are representative of those typically used for industrial projects. Those factors and weightings are shown in the table below.
| RANKING CRITERIA | WEIGHTING |
|---|---|
| LABOR AVAILABILITY | 35% |
| LOGISITICS | 15% |
| TAX CLIMATE | 15% |
| UTILITY COSTS | 15% |
| LABOR COST | 15% |
| UNION CLIMATE | 5% |
Southern states rise to the top
According to the model, seven of the 10 best-scoring states were located in the south. Of the top 10 states, only North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee scored above the national average (100%) in each individual category. The table below shows the scores of the top 10 states.
| STATE | TOTAL INDEX |
|---|---|
| North Carolina | 130.8% |
| Florida | 130.7% |
| Georgia | 128.9% |
| Texas | 127.4% |
| Indiana | 125.9% |
| Tennessee | 125.8% |
| Michigan | 120.2% |
| South Carolina | 119.7% |
| Oklahoma | 119.5% |
| Utah | 119.0% |
How did the rest of the United States score?
The interactive map below shows the scores for each of the 50 states.
