Nevada drops five places to No. 10 in survey of business climate

Nevada remains one of the top 10 states to do business in, but it fell five places from last year, according to a survey released Monday by Chief Executive magazine.

Nevada ranked No. 10 on this year's list, down from No. 5 in 2010. The state ranked No. 6 in 2009.

Chief Executive polled 550 CEOs on issues including taxation, regulation, work-force quality and living environment.

CEOs surveyed by the magazine gave Nevada four out of five stars for taxation and regulation, work-force quality and living environment.

The report noted Nevada ranks
45th in state debt per capita at $1,690 per person. The magazine did not specify why Nevada slipped in the rankings.

Texas took the No. 1 spot for the seventh consecutive year as the best state to do business and North Carolina followed at No. 2.

California was 50th for the second straight year. While CEOs gave California four out of five stars for living environment, work-force quality received three out of five stars and taxation and regulation was ranked one out of five.