CNBC’s annual list ranking the best states for business ranks Virginia No. 3 this year, down from No. 1 last year. Maryland ranks No. 27.
Virginia has ranked No. 1 five times since CNBC launched the annual ranking in 2007, more than any other state (CNBC did not publish a list in 2020 due to the pandemic).
Virginia scores high for the strength of its education system and workforce, but gets dinged for what CNBC notes is a slowdown in net migration among college-educated workers because of the commonwealth’s high cost of living.
Virginia also gets good marks for infrastructure, life, health and inclusion, business friendliness and technology and innovation. It scores poorly for the cost of doing business.
Maryland’s highest marks were for workforce and technology and innovation, but the state ranks near the bottom for the cost of doing business.
The top five states on CNBC’s America’s Top States for Doing Business in 2022:
1. North Carolina
2. Washington
3. Virginia
4. Colorado
5. Texas
The full list and methodology is online.
