Texas Ranks 8th for Business: Forbes

Texas is climbing Forbes' charts, up one position on the magazine's Best States for Business list.

Last year Texas ranked 9 but in 2009 the Lone Star State is 8.

The magazine ranks states based on six "vital" categories for businesses: cost, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life.

While Texas ranks 9 overall, the state ranks 1 for economic climate, 3 for growth prospects, 10 for regulatory environment, 23 for labor, 29 for business costs and 39 for quality of life.

For the fourth straight year, Virginia grabbed the top spot on the list.

Here's the top ten:

1. Virginia
2. Washington
3. Utah
4. Colorado
5. North Carolina
6. Georgia
7. North Dakota
8. Texas
9. Nebraska
10. Oregon