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

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 Ohio1935181101692392 North Carolina1313342088512353 Virginia22310726611105154 Texas1221495323232305 Minnesota782743114162110226 Michigan9242115417271329117 Georgia517946111521813358 Florida3211230151033429489 Tennessee611750920715451510 Indiana4273248216102025611 Washington1656124744011374112 Illinois32931222312441274113 Pennsylvania11213917175427171114 Arizona82243635251318433315 Massachusetts2416261049827613916 Utah28135452526522452617 California2631729461471205018 New York134501941249374119 Iowa15373820823143923620 Wyoming3714362429362352521 Alabama103114432022242741322 Wisconsin2410294011302626131523 Connecticut29342554019212344423 South Carolina27683631283831193725 Colorado322810143862917374926 Nebraska362618101745937202927 Kentucky1737223010293231251428 Arkansas2320134117363127361929 North Dakota3442469224214511230 Idaho4514162828341240472231 New Jersey41311933820501323932 Delaware417122141274625431533 Nevada2019223934381523493734 New Hampshire4343157364564192635 Maine47393322338244352836 Maryland1749301244133315163037 Kansas31463936153233413638 Missouri212949445243819371039 Oklahoma214142413301833481940 Vermont373533137481842222141 New Mexico2933203229403537323342 Oregon1739242243184327344543 Mississippi3436482613433635411144 South Dakota44454733145034628345 Montana4818363533354046183046 West Virginia404844242744304925147 Louisiana394745467324827292248 Rhode Island4650281644403748404549 Alaska4944412647472050502250 Hawaii5024436504945443447