CNBC Names North Carolina as America’s Top State for Business

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Charlotte Stories
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CNBC has just crowned North Carolina as America’s Best State for Business in 2023, marking the second year in a row we were ranked #1 for business. Governor Roy Cooper revealed the honor during a live broadcast at Asheville’s Biltmore Estate with CNBC’s Scott Cohn.

“When we invest in our people, we invest in the foundation of our success,” said Governor Cooper in a press release. “Thanks to our well-trained, dedicated and diverse workforce, North Carolina has been named the top state for business for the second year in a row and it’s important for us to invest in the education and well being of our people to continue our amazing success.”

The award is based on a CNBC study evaluating 86 different factors across ten key areas of competitiveness. North Carolina emerged top in workforce and scored notably well in the economy, technology and innovation, and access to capital categories. This is only the second instance a state has secured the top position two years running in the history of the CNBC rankings. Impressively, North Carolina has made it into the top five states four times since 2017.

Furthermore, this year has seen North Carolina bag Site Selection Magazine’s Prosperity Cup for the third consecutive year, acknowledging the effectiveness of its state-level economic development agencies. The state also secured Area Development magazine’s 2023 Platinum Shovel Award for going above the norm in investment and job creation, and won Business Facilities magazine’s State of the Year award following a remarkable year of economic growth and job creation.

Here is this year’s full rankings:

AMERICA’S TOP STATES FOR BUSINESS 2023

OVERALL RANK STATE WORK- FORCE INFRA- STRUCTURE ECONOMY LIFE, HEALTH & INCLUSION COST OF DOING BUSINESS TECHN & INNOVATION BUSINESS FRIENDLI- NESS EDUCATION ACCESS TO CAPITAL COST OF LIVING
1 North Carolina 1 16 3 34 18 6 10 7 6 27
2 Virginia 7 10 13 16 34 15 6 1 4 25
3 Tennessee 9 3 5 43 7 27 19 5 15 22
4 Georgia 8 1 4 39 27 19 35 21 23 14
5 Minnesota 17 3 24 4 39 4 30 13 20 17
6 Texas 2 24 2 50 16 8 25 35 1 22
7 Washington 5 23 17 7 37 3 22 32 17 44
8 Florida 15 14 1 41 26 20 26 36 16 36
9 Utah 6 29 6 38 22 23 7 44 23 39
10 Michigan 24 26 29 24 6 12 15 36 10 7
11 Colorado 9 10 32 8 38 10 18 21 12 35
12 Ohio 39 6 21 23 4 16 40 40 5 3
13 Indiana 35 5 9 44 5 22 22 45 13 3
14 Arizona 3 7 15 35 33 18 13 42 17 40
15 Massachusetts 13 34 26 8 49 1 19 3 3 47
15 Pennsylvania 24 17 18 27 24 11 31 13 6 16
17 Illinois 28 2 33 17 32 14 39 2 6 9
18 Delaware 4 19 10 21 42 24 26 46 27 30
19 New Jersey 16 21 19 3 44 21 48 4 11 30
20 New York 46 18 12 14 41 5 46 13 6 46
21 Oregon 14 32 26 6 31 9 43 30 20 48
22 Maryland 28 15 31 11 47 7 24 21 13 27
23 Iowa 23 26 42 13 20 27 33 26 35 1
23 Kansas 30 10 40 30 13 34 11 5 45 2
25 California 12 26 37 19 45 1 47 9 1 49
26 Idaho 20 38 8 33 21 25 14 47 30 40
27 South Carolina 31 8 7 46 13 37 32 27 41 21
28 Nebraska 36 35 34 22 19 33 8 20 40 12
29 Vermont 41 37 39 1 40 31 16 10 32 36
30 Nevada 11 9 11 31 30 47 9 50 25 36
31 Connecticut 21 33 42 10 43 13 16 13 27 34
32 Missouri 49 21 16 45 2 30 29 11 17 7
33 Wisconsin 38 39 20 36 17 17 33 13 35 20
34 South Dakota 47 31 28 31 11 42 2 27 37 27
35 Montana 42 40 23 28 22 35 4 13 41 45
36 North Dakota 43 25 46 18 29 44 1 21 41 17
37 Wyoming 18 36 35 25 28 50 2 11 30 22
38 Kentucky 33 29 25 36 10 41 40 36 45 17
39 Maine 22 50 38 2 34 40 26 19 48 32
40 New Hampshire 34 42 44 15 36 35 4 8 32 40
41 Oklahoma 36 20 30 49 3 38 21 48 25 5
42 Alabama 44 13 21 46 12 32 42 34 37 11
43 New Mexico 27 45 36 29 24 27 44 21 47 26
44 Arkansas 31 46 14 42 15 49 44 42 20 12
45 Rhode Island 19 44 48 12 46 25 37 41 29 43
46 West Virginia 50 41 48 26 1 47 49 32 39 5
47 Hawaii 40 43 41 5 50 39 36 36 50 50
48 Mississippi 45 48 47 39 9 46 50 27 41 9
49 Louisiana 48 46 45 48 7 45 37 30 32 14
50 Alaska 26 49 50 20 48 43 12 49 49 32