By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

This isn’t a map of the states that have swine flu or even the ones that have the most fat people — this picture depicts which states are the most entrepreneur friendly.

In the map, the green colored states are the best places to start a business. The ones that are blue are mediocre and the states in red are the most difficult.

For instance, New York is ranked 48th, just ahead of California — even though both states have high tech hot spots in them. However, once you move to the West and down South, the climate for small businesses seems to ease up. The No. 1 place to live for business owners is South Dakota — a state that only has less than a million people living there.

The rankings are based on the Small Business Survival Index 2009, an annual report that takes into account public policies and its effect on small businesses. The states in green have “pro-entrepreneur policies.” Everything from taxes to regulatory costs to health care to government spending to property rights were factored in. According to the report:

In the end, government does not drive economic growth. Quite the contrary, growth comes from the private sector. The ultimate source of  growth is economic risk taking in the private sector, that is, investing and entrepreneurship…..Without a doubt, the biggest obstacle to entrepreneurship and investment is public policy gone awry.

Look at the high tech growth in Florida. It’s a perfect example good public policies and healthy small business growth. Over the last eight years (2000-2008), the states that made the top 25 list had a population growth of 10 percent, but the states that were in the second half only grew by 5 percent. People tend to go where they see opportunity. So if you want to start a business without a headache, try launching it in one of the green states.

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