When the dust settled, California and New York came out as the two most expensive states in the country for starting a new business. New York carries the second-highest regulatory burden in the country at 300,095 state regulations, along with high average wages of $91,428 a year. The Golden State ranked as the single most expensive state to start a business, driven largely by having the highest number of business regulations in the nation at 420,434. Rounding out the rest of the top 10 most expensive states are Hawaii, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Alabama, New Jersey, Washington D.C., Illinois, and West Virginia. The rest of the 10 least expensive states are South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nebraska, Kansas, Nevada, and North Dakota.