Wilmington, N.C.- North Carolina is getting more national recognition. The cable business channel CNBC has just named North Carolina America’s Top State for Business. This is the second consecutive year that the Tar Heel state has topped the list. CNBC started comparing and ranking states in 2007. This is the first time that one state has taken top honors in back-to-back years.
- NC ranks first in the Workforce category of CNBC’s study for retaining workers.
- NC ranks first in opportunities for career continued education- thanks in part to the community college systems.
- NC finished third in Technology & Innovation
- Public education throughout the state ranked 7th best in the nation
- NC ranked number one for affordable housing
As we’ve reported on a number of occasions home prices are surging through the state. In 2022 they rose by 13% last year. But CNBC gave credit to home builders for picking up the slack, with housing starts among the highest in the nation.
The CNBC study measured all 50 states across 10 categories of competitiveness (Workforce, Infrastructure, Economy, Life, Health and Inclusion, Cost of Doing Business, Technology and Innovation, Business Friendliness, Education, Access to Capital and Cost of Living.) A perfect score combining all 10 categories would total 2,500 points. North Carolina scored 1,628 points to capture this year’s crown.
If you’re wonderingm this year’s runner-up was Virginia, followed by Tennessee, Georgia and Minnesota. The bottom states were West Virginia, Hawaii, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alaska.