Washington Ranks Among America’s Top States For Business: CNBC

WASHINGTON — A healthy workforce, strong economy, and booming tech sectors helped propel Washington to the number two spot in America’s Top States for Business in 2022, according to the business and financial news network CNBC’s annual competitiveness ranking.

Last year, the Evergreen State ranked ninth 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 2022, Washington climbed seven spots, trailing only North Carolina for the top spot.

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.

Washington scored highest in the workforce, economy and "technology & innovation" categories, but fared worse in cost of living and "business friendliness" metrics.

Overall, Washington accumulated 1,558 points:

Workforce: 282 points, A letter grade
Infrastructure: 187 points, C- letter grade
Cost of doing business: 154 points, C+ letter grade
Economy: 268 points, A letter grade
Life, health and inclusion: 239 points, B+ letter grade
Technology and innovation: 196 points, A+ letter grade
Business friendliness: 89 points, D+ letter grade
Education: 103 points, B letter grade
Access to capital: 27 points, C letter grade
Cost of living: 13 points, D- 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.

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.