In 2022 and 2023, North Carolina was CNBC’s top state for business. This year, we are #2.
When North Carolina won in 2022, CNBC said our state recieved the designation for “putting partisanship aside” and our strong economy.
“What made the difference this year?,” CNBC asked in the 2022 article. “For one thing, state leaders keep managing to put aside their very deep political divisions to boost business and the economy.”
In 2023, CNBC noted North Carolina’s “world-class workforce and booming economy,” but it warned of “growing political divisions that threaten its rankings in education and quality of life.”
“The state is also a leader in career education,” said CNBC in the 2023 article, citing our community college system and how attuned it is to the needs of industry.
That year, CNBC found that in North Carolina “political tensions pressure education, quality of life.”
Here you can see how our rankings have changed over the past three years across the top categories used by CNBC:
| Year | Workforce | Infrastructure | Economy | Quality of Life | Cost of Doing Business | Technology & Innovation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12 | 17 | 1 | 28 | 26 | 5 |
| 2023 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 34 | 18 | 6 |
| 2024 | 3 | 20 | 4 | 32 | 18 | 11 |
There are 10 categories in total.
In 2024, CNBC said Virginia just barely beat North Carolina in what it called the closest finish ever, separated by three points in the final tally.
Here is North Carolina’s 2024 score, rank, and grade for all of the categories:
CNBC said of Virginia’s win, “The state’s public education system is the best in the country, and it took a bipartisan compromise to make that happen.”
“After Democrats took control of the Virginia General Assembly last November, they pushed back on what they said were cuts in education funding in Youngkin’s budget. Ultimately, the two sides reached a compromise that includes $2.5 billion in new funding for K-12 schools, and 3% pay raises for teachers and state workers,” says the CNBC article.
“The education compromise is one of many ways that a divided government has helped to moderate Virginia politics,” CNBC found.
North Carolina received a B+ in the rankings for education, ranking 10th in 2024.
Gov. Roy Cooper has declared 2024 “The Year of Public Schools,” and he has been on the road across North Carolina celebrating the great things happening in local public schools.
This year, CNBC changed its “life, health & inclusion” metric to “quality of life.”
A press release from the Governor’s office says, “North Carolina’s biggest room for improvement in CNBC’s rankings is in the ‘Quality of Life’ category, which includes affordability and availability of childcare, access to reproductive healthcare and rights, and voting rights. North Carolina received a D+ grade in these metrics. While the North Carolina General Assembly provided critical but limited grants to help keep childcare centers open for the next few months, Governor Cooper continues to push Republican legislators to make the investments needed for parents, businesses and children by extending these grants, investing in NC Pre K and investing more in quality early childhood education. As CNBC’s methodology confirms, North Carolina’s economic future depends on it.”
Correction: This article initially listed the sources of the rankings as CNN instead of CNBC.
