(The Center Square) – Denied remaining No. 1 just barely, North Carolina for the sixth consecutive year is ranked top two in the 2026 America’s Top States for Business, CNBC said Thursday morning.
The Old North State was No. 1 in 2022, 2023 and 2025. This year’s runner-up goes alongside its 2021 and 2024 finishes.
Virginia, Texas and Minnesota rounded out the top five. By total points accumulated, with 2,500 representing a maximum score, Ohio (1,623) clipped North Carolina (1,614) by nine points. Virginia (1,595) and Texas (1,586) weren’t far behind, then there was a gap to Minnesota (1,519).
Among all 50 states getting measured in 138 metrics assigned to 10 categories, North Carolina was first in economy, third in workforce, fifth in access to capital, eighth in technology and innovation, and eighth in business friendliness. The state was 12th in education and 13th in infrastructure.
The worst marks were 20th in cost of doing business, 34th in quality of life and 35th in cost of living. The cost of living ranking was a dozen spots down from a year ago, and the quality of life mark dropped back five places.
Gains were made, respectively, in economy (third in 2025), workforce (fourth in 2025), technology and innovation (13th in 2025), access to capital (eighth in 2025), and cost of doing business (21st in 2025).
By letter grade, it is an A-plus for economy; A for workforce; A-minus for access to capital; B-plus for technology and innovation, and business friendliness; B for education, and cost of doing business; B-minus for infrastructure; and a C-minus for quality of life and cost of living.
There was no ranking in 2020 when COVID-19 broke out. With exception of three times ninth place (2009, 2015, 2018) and once 12th (2013), North Carolina has always been top five since the first ranking in 2007 and 10 of 18 times been top four or better.
CNBC bills itself a “recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business content consumed by nearly half a billion people per month across all platforms.”
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