Small business owners gave Wisconsin a B- for its business friendliness, approving of its licensing regulations but expressing difficulty hiring in the state, according to Thumbtack’s annual Small Business Friendliness Survey. Complete results for Wisconsin are published at https://www.thumbtack.com/wi/.
Nearly 18,000 U.S. small business owners responded to the survey, including 219 in Wisconsin. The study asked respondents to rate their state and city governments across a broad range of policy factors. Thumbtack then evaluated states and cities against one another along more than a dozen metrics.
Key findings for Wisconsin include:
- Wisconsin performed better in 2015 than it did in 2014, when it ranked 28th and earned a C- overall.
- Wisconsin earned an A- for its licensing regulations, and a B for its tax regulations.
- Milwaukee earned a B- for overall business friendliness.
- Wisconsin’s worst score was an F for ease of hiring.
- Neighboring Illinois earned an overall friendliness score of an F and ranked 35th nationally.
