Cheyenne ranked 22, in overall ranking out of 179 small places in Forbes’ “Best Places for Business Report” and ranked No. 2 for “Cost of Doing Business” in the smaller localities division. Casper, Wyo., came in overall at No. 55 and ranked fourth in cost of doing business. The study took into consideration business-cost expenses, workforce qualifications, job and income growth, migration patterns, crime rates and leisure and cultural index.
      In coming up with the ratings, Forbes evaluated 143 variables for each state, using the most recent data. This snapshot includes tax rates, state spending, occupational licensing, environmental regulations, income redistribution, right-to-work and prevailing-wage laws, tort laws and the number of government agencies. These were grouped into five sectors—fiscal, regulatory, judicial, size of government and social welfare. For each of the 143 variables, states were ranked from 1 (most free) to 50 (least free), calculated an average sector ranking and then weighted them to get an overall score. Welfare, fiscal and regulatory matters counted about equally; government size and judicial ratings counted for less.
   The most hospitable states tend to be in the Great Plains and Rockies. In contrast, Rhode Island, Connecticut, California and New York have the most punitive policy environments for economic opportunity.