North Carolina is America's Top State for Business in 2025

With a solid economy, a world-class workforce, and a wealth of corporate hospitality, North Carolina is America’s Top State for Business in 2025 according to CNBC.

The Tar Heel State is on a roll. It captured top honors in the annual CNBC rankings in 2022 and 2023, and it was runner-up in 2021 and 2024 — missing the top spot last year by just three points to Virginia, which slips this year to its lowest position among states since 2018.

North Carolina is not only winning the CNBC rankings, it’s also attracting a steady stream of new business.

“North Carolina offers the ideal combination of talent, infrastructure, and forward-thinking leadership to support our mission to reshape aviation,” said Tom O’Leary, CEO and co-founder of JetZero, an aviation startup manufacturing fuel-efficient airliners, which announced June 12 that it will build its first factory, with 14,500 jobs, in Greensboro.

Also in June, Amazon announced it would invest $10 billion to build new data centers in North Carolina, on top of the $12 billion the company says it has invested in the state since 2010.

“This latest expansion is a testament to the state’s thriving business ecosystem and talented workforce,” the company said in a statement June 4.

CNBC’s data backs up those conclusions.

North Carolina finishes No. 3 in the all-important Economy category of this year’s study, behind only Florida and Texas. The state’s gross domestic product grew by a healthy 3.7% last year, the fifth-strongest in the country. The state added more than 60,000 jobs last year.

Article from CNBC