JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida has the fifth best tax climate in the U.S. according to the latest edition of the State Business Tax Climate Index, released Wednesday morning by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. It's the second year in a row The Sunshine State's rank achieved the fifth place ranking.

The Index measures how well structured each state's code is by analyzing over 100 tax variables in five different categories: corporate, individual income, sales, property, and unemployment insurance taxes.

States are punished for overly complex, burdensome, and economically harmful tax codes but are rewarded for transparent and neutral tax codes that do not distort business decisions.

A state's ranking can rise or fall significantly not only because of its own actions, but also because of changes or reforms made in other states.

The breakdown of Florida's ranking this year

(first is best, 50th is worst)

"The federal government is gridlocked, but state policymakers on both sides of the aisle are enacting truly fundamental reforms," said Tax Foundation Economist and Manager of State Projects Scott Drenkard. "States are doing their part and it's time that Washington steps up."

The report's key findings include:

• The 10 most competitive states are: Wyoming (No. 1), South Dakota (No. 2), Nevada (No. 3), Alaska (No. 4), Florida (No. 5), Montana (No. 6), New Hampshire (No. 7), Indiana (No. 8), Utah (No. 9) and Texas (No. 10).
  
• The 10 least competitive states are: New Jersey (No. 50), New York (No. 49), California (No. 48), Minnesota (No. 47), Vermont (No. 46), Rhode Island (No. 45), Ohio (No. 44), Wisconsin (No. 43), Connecticut (No. 42) and Iowa (No. 41).
  
• The most notable ranking changes occurred in North Carolina, Nebraska, North Dakota, New York, Wisconsin, Maine and Kansas