New Mexico has been ranked 29th in the nation for entrepreneurial activity, according to the State Entrepreneurship Index, a state-by-state measurement of entrepreneurial activity.

New Mexico moved up three spots from the previous year.

New York was ranked first, while South Carolina was ranked last.

The index, developed by economists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Bureau of Business Research and Department of Economics, evaluated the following components: a state’s percentage growth and per capita growth in business establishments, its business formation rate, the number of patents per thousand residents, and gross receipts of sole proprietorships and partnerships per capita.

Each state was assigned a ranking based on the state’s performance compared to the nationwide average.

For 2010, the latest year for figures, New York topped the list, scoring 2.34, thanks to its strong performance in gross receipts per capita and substantial improvement in two other components: growth in establishments and establishments per capita. Washington, with a score of 2.17, Massachusetts, with a score of 2.04, and New Jersey and Oregon, both scoring 1.93, rounded out the top five.

New Mexico's score was .99.

The State Entrepreneurial Index combines detailed data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the IRS Statistics of Income Bulletin, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Statistical Abstract.

New Mexico Business Weekly

Date: Wednesday, August 3, 2011, 6:49am MDT