Best States to Move to If You Hated Business Shut Downs

One of the ways that most governors

Restaurant Shut Downs (+1 point)

There were only two states where governors did not shut down restaurants.

These two states get a positive score:

• Nebraska
• South Dakota

Every other state has earned a negative score, because their governors decided to shut down restaurants.

“Non-Essential Business” Shut Downs (-1 point)

Like Hitler, governors throughout the country decided which businesses were “essential” and “non-essential,” therefore, impacting the livelihoods of the residents of their state. Let’s face it: all businesses are essential to the people who need to work there in order to have housing and food. Shutting down people’s businesses and telling them that they could not provide for their families was the ultimate form of government-overreach.

The states where “non-essential” businesses were not shut down get a positive point. They were:

• Arkansas
• Nebraska
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Wyoming

Every other state gets a negative point on my spreadsheet because the governors did shut down “non-essential” businesses.

Businesses Permanently Lost

The result of these shut downs, naturally, was the loss of businesses. I think it’s important to consider the people behind the businesses. In every situation where a business closed, there was at least one human involved, likely several. The closure of each business leads to the loss of income, the loss of a dream, the loss of identity, and potentially the loss of food on the table and the loss of housing. Every business closure is a big deal. Each state with less than 150 businesses lost per million residents earns one point on my spreadsheet, each stated with 150 to 200 businesses lost per million earns a “0” and each state with 200 or more businesses lost per million residents earns a negative point.

States Where Few Businesses Permanently Closed (+3 points)

• Arkansas
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Tennessee
• Utah

States Where Less than 150 Businesses Per Million Permanently Closed (+1 point)

• Delaware
• Mississippi
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• South Dakota
• West Virginia

States Where Less than 200 Businesses Per Million Permanently Closed (+0 points)

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Connecticut
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Wisconsin

States Where More than 200 Businesses Per Million Permanently Closed (-1 point)

• Arizona
• Florida
• Illinois
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Rhode Island
• Texas
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Wyoming

States Where More than 250 Businesses Per Million Permanently Closed (-2 points)

• Colorado
• Oregon
• Washington

States Where More than 300 Businesses Per Million Permanently Closed (-3 points)

• California
• District of Columbia
• Hawaii
• Nevada

How did your governor treat businesses?