Louisiana, the ranking's third-most expensive state, has the least amount of commercial space available per 100,000 people of any state. It also has a relative dearth of available talent: Louisiana is bottom three among all U.S. states in terms of labor force participation rate, at 69.2%, and only 26.4% of its post-college-age workers have at least a bachelor's degree. And the state's business environment appears to leave something to be desired. Its business survival rate of 0.54 is the country's fifth-worst, according to 2021 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Something like labor force participation rate may be less obvious: Having a large population of eligible workers at your disposal can save you time and money when recruiting new employees.

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