For the second-straight year, a Birmingham-based think tank ranked Selma dead last in its list of business-friendly cities.

The Alabama Policy Institute’s study uses economic vitality, business tax burden, community allure and transportation infrastructure as its indicators of overall business friendliness. The study only included Alabama’s 50 most populous cities.

The study states: “A low score in community allure is the product of Selma having a violent crime rate almost two-and-a-half times the average of the municipalities surveyed in this report. Educational outcomes are also depressed, with the lowest proportions of students in the state scoring well on standardized tests. The city’s workforce is also less prepared than much of the rest of the state, with significantly fewer adults age 25 or older possessing a high school diploma or better.”

Dr. John Hill, who conducted the study, said it doesn’t take anything into account outside of Selma’s city limits. Hill said the ranking would mean more to new businesses than ones that currently exist.

“We are not saying our study is an end all or that Selma is in a death spiral,” he said. “[In the rankings] there were some towns that shot up quickly and some that dropped like rocks. It’s not because of a large change in the culture or crime rates; the bulk of the study is focused on job growth.”

District Attorney Michael Jackson said the study correctly describes crime in Selma, but a solution isn’t easily implemented.

“It’s a circular argument,” Jackson said. “With high crime, it’s all interrelated. The crime rate is high because of a high unemployment rate, but you can’t fix the unemployment rate and also lower the related crime without better education and more jobs.”

Alabama Department of Labor doesn’t release unemployment statistics by city, but Dallas County’s March unemployment rate was 12.5 percent, which was among the highest in the state.

Selma’s current economic state may be tied to the closing of Craig Air Force Base in the late 1970s. The base, which served as a training hub for young pilots, was home to thousands of military personnel. Selma residents say the base often helped boost Selma’s economy, as military personnel lived in the city limits or contributed to tax revenue. Currently, the Craig Field continues to operate an airport, with an 8,000-foot runway. It also houses two of the top employers in Dallas County — Hanil E-Hwa and Plantation Patterns.

Though the Alabama Policy Institute ranked Selma last in its list of 50 cities, Selma-Dallas County Chamber of Commerce director Sheryl Smedley said she held 13 ribbon cuttings for new businesses in 2013.

“That number is very significant,” Smedley said “Those are businesses and individuals that are making an investment in our community and, in turn, providing jobs.”

Smedley specifically cited the investment that fast-food chain Wendy’s made in Selma last year.

“They were already in Selma of course, but made an over $1 million investment to build their nice, new building,” she said. “Those kinds of buildings are usually only found in big, metropolitan areas.”

Selma-Dallas County Economic Development director Wayne Vardaman said Selma is doing well for its region. Vardaman said studies of economic vitality should take a more holistic approach, looking at regional job growth.

“All counties have an outward mobility of people that travel for jobs,” he said. “A good number of people also travel into Dallas County for work.”

Though it wasn’t cited in the study, Jackson suggested another reason why Selma may not be experiencing an economic boom.

“There is a political divide in this city that is constantly fighting and not a unified front to combat issues,” Jackson said. “People know Selma and we get a lot of looks just because of our name. We have to all agree and approach problems together.”