PARKERSBURG - A magazine about the business end of medicine has ranked West Virginia in the top 10 best places for doctors to practice.

Medical Economics in its July 10 issue ranked West Virginia ninth. Texas is No. 1.

The magazine, founded in 1923, cited unemployment lower than the rest of the nation in April and income increases in 2008 in West Virginia.

"West Virginia's 7.5 percent unemployment rate in April didn't reach the 10 percent mark of neighbors Ohio and Kentucky, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics," the magazine said. "And while the rest of the nation saw its income drop last year, the Mountaineer State's personal income and wages went up, according to West Virginia University. One recruiter has seen primary care physicians land annual compensation offers of $200,000 to $225,000."

Malpractice liability insurance rates have dropped about 9 percent in 2008, but despite the reforms are still among the highest, the magazine said. "The state is also gradually enacting a number of corporate and income tax reforms, which add to an already higher than average tax burden, according to the Tax Foundation," the magazine said.

Candace Jones, a physician recruiter at St. Joseph's Hospital, said the reforms are the primary reason why doctors are more willing to locate in West Virginia.

"I was very surprised and delighted we made the top 10," she said. "It certainly is a good recruiting tool for us."

Her counterpart at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital, Jay Landers, agrees. Doctors avoided West Virginia because of the malpractice liability laws and insurance costs, he said.

"I would mention West Virginia and they would hang up," Landers said.

Because of the reforms, recruiters also have been able to attract specialists, said Delegate Tom Azinger, R-Wood, who supported the medical liability reforms. He points to the development of the PARS Brain and Spinal Clinic in Parkersburg and new cardiologists in town.

"That's just one example," he said.

Another advantage on West Virginia's side is it's a nice place to live, Azinger said. The magazine's survey said Beckley was the "best town you've never heard of."

"I'm prejudiced being that I'm from here and I've lived here all my life," Azinger said.

There's been another trend, too, Landers said.

More doctors are preferring to work for an employer rather than establish a practice, avoiding the business end of running an office, he said. Before, doctors preferred to have their own practice, Landers said.

"The pendulum has swung the other way," he said.

According to the magazine, compensation packages offered to doctors locating here were between $200,000 and $225,000. Medical Economics said median annual primary care compensation in West Virginia was $151,500, the lowest among the states.

Being employed as a doctor is attractive to those starting out, Jones said.

"They didn't learn how to become business people," she said.

The top 10 list is: 10, Alaska; 9, West Virginia; 8, Alabama; 7, Minnesota; 6, Oregon; 5, New Hampshire; 4, North Dakota; 3, Indiana; 2, Wisconsin; 1, Texas.