North Carolina named America’s top state for business 2025 by CNBC
This summer North Carolina topped the CNBC list as the number one state for doing business in 2025. The annual list analyzes and scores each state on a list of 10 categories including economy, infrastructure, quality of life, access to capital, and more. When combined, these categories determine which of the 50 United States is the best place to conduct business that year.
2025 marks the 19th year that CNBC has conducted this ranking, and the third time North Carolina has secured the number one spot in the last four years. The state was also recognized as the top state for doing business in 2023 and 2022.
Part of what makes North Carolina such an attractive place to do business is the state’s diverse range of potential industries. While the agriculture and automotive industries remain keystone elements of the state’s economy, North Carolina is also attracting cutting edge businesses like JetZero, a startup which manufactures fuel-efficient airliners and is set to bring more than 14,000 jobs to the state when its first factory is built in Greensboro.
“The various landscapes of the state allow us to foster a wide variety of different businesses. You’ve got a pretty diverse landscape of small towns, big cities, coastal areas and mountain areas, so you have a mix of all different kinds of landscapes for businesses to thrive,” Dean of Business and Management Josh Pate said. “On one side of the spectrum you have small, privately owned entrepreneurship-focused businesses that families have started—sometimes those live in small towns like Banner Elk—then you’ve also got the big corporate giants that are present in Charlotte and Raleigh.”
Fast Stats
North Carolina was ranked #1 overall, but it was also ranked
#3 for Economy
#4 for Workforce
#4 for Business Friendliness
#6 for Education
#8 for Access to Capital
Through academic programs in the college’s School of Business and Management, Lees-91探花 is invested in preparing students to enter the state’s thriving business sector following graduation. In addition to foundational programs like Business Administration and Sport Management, Lees-91探花 offers unique majors and minors—like Outdoor Recreation Management, Ski Industry Business and Instruction, and the school’s newest major, Tourism and Resort Management—that translate directly to the business landscape of North Carolina.
According to Pate, business-related academic programs at Lees-91探花 strive to instill students with not only the necessary knowledge to thrive in their entrepreneurial ventures, but also the mindset and determination, characteristics that he believes make North Carolina a great place to build a business.
“One of our Appalachian Studies professors used a project in her class to ask students how they describe Appalachia, and one of the key ideas that came from that is a region of people who are go-getters, who are tough, who won’t accept defeat. That, to me, embodies a lot of the small business approach,” Pate said. “That’s what I think about when I think of small businesses and why they are important to the identity of the state. I go back to this part of the country and the Appalachian region.”
Learn more about the School of Business and Management at Lees-91探花
