Ohio is America’s Top State for Business in 2026, its first No. 1 rank

Offering unparalleled access at unbeatable costs, Ohio is America’s Best Business State for 2026.

It’s the culmination of a long climb for the Buckeye State, once considered the buckle of the Rust Belt. Ohio finished 30th in CNBC’s first survey in 2007. Today, it is a magnet for growth, capital and innovation, truly living up to its motto of “The Heart of Everything”.

“We are strategically focused on making Ohio literally the go-to state for business,” Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said in his State of the State address in March.

The efforts paid off. Ohio broke into the top five of CNBC’s rankings for the first time last year. This year, the 20th year of our annual study, the competitive environment is the state’s greatest strength.

Ohio shines in infrastructure and operating costs

Ohio ranks No. 1 in Infrastructure, the most important category under this year’s Top States methodology. More than 143 million people live within a day’s drive of Ohio, giving Ohio companies better access to markets than any other state. But that’s just the beginning of Ohio’s infrastructure advantage.

The state offers one of the nation’s most robust programs for matching companies with shovel-ready sites for development, according to data compiled for the CNBC study by the Site Selectors Guild. The state allocated $175 million for site preparation last year, second only to California. As of this month, a state database It listed 26 existing “SiteOhio Verified” sites that the state economic development agency JobsOhio said were “construction ready on day one.”

With good connectivity and abundant electrical power for advanced computing, Ohio currently ranks in the top 10 for the number of data centers, with 224. Data Center Map. And the state will soon be home to one of the world’s largest data centers under a public-private partnership announced in March between SoftBank and electric utility AEP. The 10-gigawatt, $4.2 billion facility is being built on federally owned land in Pike County east of Cincinnati, where a U.S. uranium enrichment facility for nuclear weapons was once located.

But data center development is controversial. A grassroots organization calling for a constitutional ban on future major projects in Ohio. gathered It has 100,000 signatures and now hopes to get the measure on the ballot next year. DeWine, an early proponent of the facilities, issued an order in May. temporary freezing The state’s 100% sales tax rebate for data center developers.

Ohio governor’s race focuses on affordability

The data center issue is helping shape a bitter debate about affordability in the race to replace term-limited DeWine.

The Democratic nominee, former state Public Health Director Dr. Amy Acton makes the call railings to data centers to protect housing utilization rates, union jobs, and the environment.

Republican candidate tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is more open to data centers. public statementsBut he said developers should pay for their own electricity.

While affordability is a major focus in the governor’s race, Ohio has a much better track record than most states.

The state ranks #1 in the important Cost of Doing Business category. Rents for office and industrial space are among the lowest in the country, according to real estate data firm CoStar. Insurance and utilities costs are reasonable, and incentives for businesses are among the most generous in the country. Situation financial disclosures It shows the state cut more than $1 billion in taxes last fiscal year.

Individuals are also doing well. Ohio ranks 9th in Cost of Living, and housing costs are among the most affordable in the country.

Ohio also ranks in the top 10 in other categories: Economy, No. 9; Technology and Innovation, Ranked 10th; and Access to Capital, no. 9.

Top State still lags behind in key categories

For all its progress, Ohio still has important work to do.

Ohio ranks 23rd in Education, with the ninth largest average class size in public schools, according to the National Education Association. State funding for higher education is lagging, according to the Association of State Higher Education Officials.

This contributes to Ohio’s most glaring competitive weakness; In the important Workforce category, America’s Best Business ranks 35th. Only 19% of Ohio adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the Census Bureau, placing Ohio workers at the bottom of the nation in terms of education. More importantly, not enough skilled workers are staying in or moving to Ohio, according to data compiled for CNBC by business analytics firm Lightcast.

JobsOhio hopes to close the state’s skills gap announced In June, it announced it would invest $300 million over the next 10 years to hire and train skilled workers. The agency estimates that the state will need 540,000 workers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations over the next decade.

“This is meant to prepare people for real jobs in the real world,” DeWine said in announcing the JobsOhio Experiential Learning Initiative.

How did we score all 50 US states?

The CNBC survey measures all 50 states across 10 competitiveness categories, for a total of 2,500 possible scores. Ohio tallied 1,623 points to claim this year’s crown.

Our methodology assigns a weight to each category based on how often states cite it as a selling point. The idea is to measure situations against the criteria they use to enter the business world.

Here are this year’s categories and point totals:

• Infrastructure: 440 points (17.6%)
• Economy: 415 points (16.6%)
• Workforce: 345 points (13.8%)
• Quality of Life: 290 points (11.6%)
• Cost of Doing Business: 285 points (11.4%)
• Technology and Innovation: 245 points (9.8%)
• Business Friendliness: 225 points (9%)
• Access to Capital: 105 points (4.2%)
• Education: 100 points (4%)
• Cost of Living: 50 points (2%)

Rest of the Top States

North Carolina, last year’s Best State, finished 2nd this year. The Tar Heel State made impressive progress in CNBC’s rankings. The state has finished first or second in each of the last six years, missing out on a repeat win in 2026 by just nine points.

North Carolina ranked top in the Economy category this year, even though the state went a full year without passing a budget. The state’s legislature finally passed the budget last week, which Gov. Josh Stein signed Tuesday. Employment growth and economic growth have been strong. But this growth has helped raise costs. North Carolina ranks 35th in Cost of Living. Weak protections for workers and rising crime help the state rise to 34th in the Quality of Life rankings.

Virginia came in third, ranking 2nd behind Ohio in Infrastructure and 5th in Education. But federal budget and personnel cuts have hurt Old Dominion’s Economy ranking, falling to 23rd in 2026 compared to 14th last year.

Texas ranks fourth, ranking #1 in Workforce and #2 in Economy and Access to Capital. But persistently rising crime rates, poor healthcare, and a lack of inclusivity place the Lone Star State at 49th in Quality of Life rankings.

No. 5 Minnesota, by contrast, ranks No. 4 for Quality of Life, with outstanding health care, strong worker protections and inclusive state laws. However, the North Star State can be extremely expensive due to high taxes and cost of living.

This year’s Most Improved State was Arkansas, which has seen an influx of workers in the corporate-heavy northwest part of the state, home to Walmart, Tyson Foods and J.B. Hunt Transport Services. Natural State rose 13 places to 28th in the overall rankings, and rose 23 places to 13th in the Labor category.

2026 Bottom States include some former reserves

We’re listing all 50 states, so if there are Upper States, there must be Lower States.

Ranked 46th is West Virginia, which is ranked 48th in Economy and 49th in Access to Capital. However, the Mountain State is #1 in Cost of Living rankings.

Louisiana ranks 47th. Pelican State is ranked 47th in the Economy rankings; Business Friendship, No. in 48; and Quality of Life, No. 46.

Rhode Island comes in at number 48. Ocean State ranks last in the Economy category, 48th in the Access to Capital category, and 46th in the Infrastructure category. It still manages to be the fifth most expensive state to live in America.

Number 49 is Alaska. The Last Frontier ranks last in the Education and Access to Capital category and 49th in the Infrastructure category.

This year’s Bottom State is Hawaii. The Aloha State ranks last in Infrastructure and Cost of Doing Business and 47th in Cost of Living. Even Hawaii’s legendary lifestyle will take a hit in 2026 because child care is more expensive than other states. This drops Hawaii to 6th place in the Quality of Life rankings.

Join the conversation

Didn’t see your state mentioned? You can see where it ranks overall and in all 10 competitiveness categories on the 2026 America’s Best States for Business full rankings page.

As always, CNBC welcomes your feedback. Use the hashtag #TopStates on social media.