America's Top States for Business 2026: See the full rankings and where your state finished

Published Thu, Jul 9, 2026

CNBC’s annual study once again puts all 50 states to the test, measuring them on 138 metrics, the most ever, across ten categories of competitiveness.

To rank America's Top States for Business in 2026, CNBC scored all 50 states on 138 metrics in 10 broad categories of competitiveness. The fundamentals of the study, now in its 20th year, remain the same: identifying the factors companies consider when making site selection decisions, and where states are focusing their economic development efforts to win jobs and business. Each category is weighted based on how frequently states use them as a selling point.

The Top States categories have been largely consistent since our first study in 2007, but we re-weight our categories annually to reflect market dynamics. The biggest change in 2026: Infrastructure is our top-weighted category, as companies pursue strategic locations close to transport hubs, top utilities, access to fresh water, and abundant energy to power things like advanced manufacturing and data centers. And they want it all without red tape. For the first time in 2026, we are factoring ease of permitting into our rankings.

Economy, last year's top category as President Donald Trump's second-term agenda took shape, slips to second place, followed by Workforce. A national skills gap remains, but the job market has cooled and AI has boosted productivity.

Under our methodology, states can earn a maximum of 2,500 points. The states with the most points are America's Top States for Business.

America's Top States for Business 2026

Overall	State	Infra- structure	Economy	Workforce	Quality of Life	Cost of Doing Business	Technolgy & Innovation	Business Friendliness	Access to Capital	Education	Cost of Living
1	Ohio	1	9	35	18	1	10	16	9	23	9
2	North Carolina	13	1	3	34	20	8	8	5	12	35
3	Virginia	2	23	10	7	26	6	11	10	5	15
4	Texas	12	2	1	49	5	3	23	2	32	30
5	Minnesota	7	8	27	4	31	14	16	21	10	22
6	Michigan	9	24	21	15	4	17	27	13	29	11
7	Georgia	5	17	9	46	11	15	21	8	13	35
8	Florida	32	11	2	30	15	10	33	4	29	48
9	Tennessee	6	11	7	50	9	20	7	15	45	15
10	Indiana	4	27	32	48	2	16	10	20	25	6
11	Washington	16	5	6	12	47	4	40	11	37	41
12	Illinois	3	29	31	22	23	12	44	12	7	41
13	Pennsylvania	11	21	39	17	17	5	42	7	17	11
14	Arizona	8	22	4	36	35	25	13	18	43	33
15	Massachusetts	24	16	26	10	49	8	27	6	1	39
16	Utah	28	13	5	45	25	26	5	22	45	26
17	California	26	3	17	29	46	1	47	1	20	50
18	New York	13	4	50	19	41	2	49	3	7	41
19	Iowa	15	37	38	20	8	23	14	39	23	6
20	Wyoming	37	14	36	24	29	36	2	35	2	5
21	Alabama	10	31	14	43	20	22	24	27	41	3
22	Wisconsin	24	10	29	40	11	30	26	26	13	15
23	Connecticut	29	34	25	5	40	19	21	23	4	44
23	South Carolina	27	6	8	36	31	28	38	31	19	37
25	Colorado	32	28	10	14	38	6	29	17	37	49
26	Nebraska	36	26	18	10	17	45	9	37	20	29
27	Kentucky	17	37	22	30	10	29	32	31	25	14
28	Arkansas	23	20	13	41	17	36	31	27	36	19
29	North Dakota	34	42	46	9	22	42	1	45	11	2
30	Idaho	45	14	16	28	28	34	12	40	47	22
31	New Jersey	41	31	19	3	38	20	50	13	2	39
32	Delaware	41	7	12	21	41	27	46	25	43	15
33	Nevada	20	19	22	39	34	38	15	23	49	37
34	New Hampshire	43	43	15	7	36	45	6	41	9	26
35	Maine	47	39	33	2	23	38	24	43	5	28
36	Maryland	17	49	30	12	44	13	33	15	16	30
37	Kansas	31	46	39	36	15	32	3	34	13	6
38	Missouri	21	29	49	44	5	24	38	19	37	10
39	Oklahoma	21	41	42	41	3	30	18	33	48	19
40	Vermont	37	35	33	1	37	48	18	42	22	21
41	New Mexico	29	33	20	32	29	40	35	37	32	33
42	Oregon	17	39	24	22	43	18	43	27	34	45
43	Mississippi	34	36	48	26	13	43	36	35	41	11
44	South Dakota	44	45	47	33	14	50	3	46	28	3
45	Montana	48	18	36	35	33	35	40	46	18	30
46	West Virginia	40	48	44	24	27	44	30	49	25	1
47	Louisiana	39	47	45	46	7	32	48	27	29	22
48	Rhode Island	46	50	28	16	44	40	37	48	40	45
49	Alaska	49	44	41	26	47	47	20	50	50	22
50	Hawaii	50	24	43	6	50	49	45	44	34	47