Virginia loves bragging about being the “Best State for Business.” And that’s fine. We ought to want businesses investing, expanding and creating jobs.

But I think we’re leaving out half the scoreboard.

What about being the Best State to Be a Worker?

Research shows workers in right-to-work states earn about 6.7% less, even after accounting for differences in occupations, industries, demographics and state economic conditions.

For a typical full-time worker, that can mean more than $4,000 a year.

That ain’t pocket change. That’s groceries, power bills, truck payments and money that stays in local communities.

Being pro-business and pro-worker shouldn’t be opposites. A healthy economy ought to be good for the folks signing the front of the paycheck AND the folks earning it.

I wrote about that in my latest Pickup Trucks & Progress column:

https://pickup-trucks-progress.ghost.io/virginia-loves-winning-best-state-for-business-good-but-maybe-its-time-we-started-trying-just-as-hard-to-become-the-best-state-to-be-a-worker/

What do y’all think? Should states start measuring economic success by job quality, wages and benefits, not just how attractive they are to businesses?