North Carolina took first place in this year’s in CNBC’s annual Top States for Business. To rank America’s top-performing states, CNBC scores all 50 on 135 metrics across 10 broad categories of economic competitiveness. The fundamentals of the study, now in its 19th year, are the same as they have always been — identifying the factors companies consider year after year when making site selection decisions, and that states pitch in their efforts to woo business. Maryland slipped to 32nd from 31st last year.
More on Maryland: Our state’s current competitiveness story is one of contrasts — with some notable progress in key areas, but persistent weaknesses that continue to drag us down. Maryland improved in the workforce, infrastructure, economy and education categories, but the core business fundamentals continue to lag other states, especially our neighbors. In business friendliness the state ranks 37th; 46th for cost of doing business; 43rd for cost of living.
