Red Tape Index Names Tennessee and Indiana Top States for Speed and Ease of Doing Business in New Red Tape 50 Ranking
Labrynth's Red Tape Index Measures Future State Success and its Data is Included in CNBC's 2026 America's Top States
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NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Labrynth, a global AI-services and regulatory intelligence platform behind the Red Tape Index (RTI), unveiled the Red Tape 50, a ranking of all 50 U.S. states on the speed and ease of building and operating a business. For the first time in the study’s history, CNBC incorporated permitting speed and regulatory friction into its state rankings this year, drawing on Red Tape Index data to help score all 50 states across 138 metrics.
The Red Tape 50 composite score aggregates nine dimensions of state performance, from permitting velocity and land use to labor, infrastructure, and cost of business, giving site selectors, developers, and policymakers a single, data-driven benchmark for regulatory competitiveness. Tennessee tops the composite rankings, followed by Indiana, Georgia, Texas, and South Dakota.
Top 10 States in the Inaugural Red Tape 50
| RTI Rank | State |
| 1 | Tennessee |
| 2 | Indiana |
| 3 | Georgia |
| 4 | Texas |
| 5 | South Dakota |
| 6 | North Dakota |
| 7 | Arizona |
| 8 | Utah |
| 9 | North Carolina |
| 10 | Idaho |
At the other end of the ranking, Hawaii, New York, California, Oregon and New Jersey are the five most regulatory-intensive states to build and operate in, placing 50th through 46th, respectively.
“Capital follows certainty, and certainty starts with knowing how long it actually takes to get a project approved,” said Stuart Lacey, Founder and CEO of Labrynth. “The Red Tape 50 gives every state a clear, comparable scorecard on regulatory performance, and CNBC including our data this year confirms that speed to market has become a top-tier factor in where business gets built.”
The inaugural Red Tape 50 draws on public records, regulatory filings, and other external sources to score each state on fiscal policy, land use, labor, growth, affordability, infrastructure, cost of business, business friendliness, and approval and permitting velocity.
The full interactive rankings, including state-by-state detail on all nine dimensions, are available at redtapeindex.com/united-states/red-tape-50/states.
About the Red Tape Index
The Red Tape Index (RTI) is a comprehensive performance database in the U.S., tracking more than 500 cities and all 50 states. It combines public records, regulatory data, and analysis to measure permitting speed, transparency, and scalability. The Red Tape Index provides data for CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business study. The latest Red Tape Report, including additional city- and state-level case studies and regulatory readiness benchmarks, is available at https://redtapeindex.com/reports.
About Labrynth
Labrynth provides AI operating layers for mid-market companies and regulated enterprises. We design, build, deploy, and run AI services that turn regulatory complexity into a competitive advantage. Learn more at www.labrynth.ai.
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