CT Among Bottom In America's Top States For Business Rankings: CNBC

CONNECTICUT — Dismal scores for its economy, cost of living and cost of doing business saw Connecticut plummet to No. 39 in America’s Top States for Business in 2022, the business and financial news network CNBC’s annual competitiveness ranking.

Last year, Connecticut ranked No. 24 in the competitiveness rankings, weighted according to the frequency states use attributes such as the strength of the workforce, the state of infrastructure development and the cost of doing business as selling points in their economic development materials, CNBC said.

In all, CNBC measured how well the states performed across 88 metrics in 10 categories. For the first time, child-care resources and support for emerging industries such as cryptocurrency and cannabis were included in the competitiveness rankings. States can earn a total of 2,500 points.

Connecticut accumulated 1,221 points:

• Workforce: 251 points, "B" letter grade
• Infrastructure: 165 points, "D" letter grade
• Cost of doing business: 101 points, "D" letter grade
• Economy: 105 points, "F" letter grade
• Life, health and inclusion: 189 points, "C" letter grade
• Technology and innovation: 133 points, "C+" letter grade
• Business friendliness: 135 points, "B" letter grade
• Education: 109 points, "B+" letter grade
• Access to capital: 25 points, "C" letter grade
• Cost of living: 8 points, "F" letter grade

North Carolina topped the ranking, moving up from No. 2 last year. CNBC noted that’s partly because "political leaders in the Tar Heel State keep managing to put partisanship aside to build the nation’s strongest economy."

Rounding out the top five were Washington, Virginia, Colorado and Texas.

SEE ALSO: Here's How Connecticut Business Ranked in 2021

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To determine how well the states performed, CNBC relied on publicly available federal data, but also commissioned reports from real estate and labor market data collection firms. State economic development and financial data from each state were also used. For more, read the full methodology.