2015 Best (And Worst) States To Find Smart Workers

Where The Talented Employees Are -- And Aren't

Finding the best employees, from top managers and effective salespeople to engineers with deep technical expertise, is often the biggest challenge faced by growing solution providers.

As part of the 2015 Best States to Grow a Solution Provider Business project, we've ranked the states according to the overall experience and education levels of their available workforce. That ranking includes the educational level attained by a state's workforce, the rate of migration (from within the U.S.) and immigration (from outside the U.S.) of knowledge workers into a state, and the managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of a state's total private-sector workforce. A report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation was the foundation for much of the analysis.

The following are the 10 states with the highest rankings for educated and experienced workers, listed from No. 10 to No. 1. The states with the lowest rankings are then listed from No. 41 to No. 50.

Best States No. 10: New York

The Empire State was No. 10 for workforce education and No. 11 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Best States No. 9: New Jersey

The Garden State was No. 7 for workforce education and No. 10 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Best States No. 8: Minnesota

The North Star State was No. 9 for workforce education and No. 12 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Best States No. 7: Colorado

The Centennial State was No. 2 for workforce education and No. 6 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Best States No. 6: Connecticut

The Constitution State was No. 4 for workforce education and No. 4 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Best States No. 5: New Hampshire

The Granite State was No. 8 for workforce education and No. 16 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Best States No. 4: Massachusetts

The Bay State was No. 1 for workforce education and No. 1 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Best States No. 3: Maryland

The Old Line State was No. 3 for workforce education and No. 2 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Best States No. 2: Virginia

The Old Dominion State was No. 6 for workforce education and No. 3 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Best States No. 1: Vermont

The Green Mountain State was No. 5 for workforce education and No. 8 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Worst States No. 41: Florida

The Sunshine State was No. 31 for workforce education and No. 35 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Worst States No. 42: Indiana

The Hoosier State was No. 43 for workforce education and No. 45 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Worst States No. 43: Tennessee

The Volunteer State was No. 42 for workforce education and No. 38 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Worst States No. 44: Oklahoma

The Sooner State was No. 41 for workforce education and No. 30 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Worst States No. 45: Arkansas

The Natural State was No. 49 for workforce education and No. 46 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Worst States No. 46: Kentucky

The Bluegrass State was No. 46 for workforce education and No. 41 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Worst States No. 47: West Virginia

The Mountain State was No. 50 for workforce education and No. 39 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Worst States No. 48: Nevada

The Silver State was No. 45 for workforce education and No. 50 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Worst States No. 49: Louisiana

The Pelican State was No. 48 for workforce education and No. 47 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.

Worst States No. 50: Mississippi

The Magnolia State was No. 47 for workforce education and No. 49 for managerial, professional and technical jobs as a share of total private-sector jobs in the state.