Hawai'i once again ranks as the most expensive state in the nation when it comes to doing business, according to the 2005 Milken Institute Cost-of-Doing-Business Index.

The survey, which last year also ranked Hawai'i on top, looks at wage, electricity and real-estate costs and taxes. It found that the price of doing business in the Islands is 43 percent higher than the national average.

By comparison, the second-most-expensive state — New York — has business costs that are 30 percent higher; third-place Massachusetts' costs are 25 percent higher than the national average.

South Dakota had the lowest costs, at 28 percent below the national average.

While Hawai'i's electricity costs are more than double the national average, wages are 8 percent less.

"It's an expensive place to live," said Skip Rimer, director of communications for the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Milken Institute. "You have some of the highest costs, but some of the lowest wages. At 13 cents per kilowatt hour, your energy costs are pretty high. But your labor costs are 8 percent under the national average. That's the one thing that's under the national average. Everything else is over."

The 2004 and 2005 Milken surveys follow similar national rankings that find Hawai'i's business climate to be the worst, or among the worst, in the nation.

Last year: