News Summary
Texas has secured the second spot in CNBC’s latest analysis of the Top States for Business, just behind North Carolina. Achieving a score of 1,601 points, Texas outshines states like Florida and Virginia, but faces challenges in infrastructure and quality of life. Despite these hurdles, Texas remains a strong contender in the business landscape, boasting a robust economy and a large workforce. The state looks to improve its rankings by addressing quality of life metrics while continuing to drive job growth in the future.
Texas Ranks Second in CNBC’s 2025 ‘Top States for Business’
Texas has been ranked as the second-best state for business in CNBC’s 2025 “Top States for Business” listing, trailing only North Carolina, which took the top position with 1,614 points compared to Texas’s score of 1,601 points. This ranking comes as Texas continues to bolster its reputation as a hub for economic development, offering remarkable opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs.
Key Rankings and Performance Metrics
In the overall rankings, Texas outperformed competitors such as Florida, Virginia, and Ohio, which rounded out the top five states. This recognition is part of CNBC’s detailed ranking methodology that evaluates states across ten weighted categories, resulting in a maximum possible score of 2,500 points. The categories considered include< b> education, workforce, technology, economy, infrastructure, quality of life, and more.
Areas of Strength
Texas excelled in several categories, particularly in the economy, workforce, and technology, achieving A+ marks in these sectors. Texas holds the highest score nationally for workforce, with a labor pool of 15.8 million people. However, the state maintains a middle position in the national unemployment ranking, currently at 4.1%, which is slightly below the national average of 4%.
Challenges Identified
Despite its strong performance in key economic categories, Texas received a C+ in infrastructure and scored poorly in the cost of living category. Most notably, the quality of life category rated Texas poorly, generating only 72 points, which is significantly lower than North Carolina’s score of 136. This assessment considered various quality of life metrics, including per capita crime rates, environmental quality, healthcare services, childcare, worker protections, and discrimination protections.
Significance of Quality of Life
As businesses increasingly prioritize states that can attract talent through favorable quality of life metrics, this low score in Texas’s quality of life could impact its future business growth. Enterprises are increasingly looking for conducive environments for their employees, which includes considerations around safety, health, and access to essential services.
Recent Economic Developments
Texas has seen continued economic vibrancy, evidenced by the ongoing job growth and the thriving Dallas-Fort Worth region. Additionally, Texas’s consistent performance in the top rankings reflects the state’s economic resilience, having maintained a position within the top six since 2007, last achieving the top ranking in 2018.
Comparison to Other States
In the broader context, Texas maintains a lead over states that rank lower, including Louisiana, Rhode Island, Montana, Hawaii, and Alaska, which occupy the bottom tier of the CNBC rankings. Meanwhile, North Carolina’s success is bolstered by significant economic projects, such as the establishment of a new factory by JetZero employing 14,500 individuals and a $10 billion expansion of Amazon’s data center.
External Recognition and Future Outlook
Texas’s reputation has been further validated by external rankings, such as Site Selection magazine’s designation of it as the “Top State Business Climate” for 2024. In alignment with this, Houston was recently reported to rank 34th for the best large cities to start a business in 2025 in a separate WalletHub analysis.
Overall, while Texas ranks second in CNBC’s evaluation, the state’s leadership and policymakers face significant challenges in improving infrastructure and quality of life metrics to ensure sustainable business growth and continued attraction of skilled labor.
Deeper Dive: News & Info About This Topic
- Dallas News
- Entergy News
- Statesman
- Innovation Map
- PR Newswire
- Wikipedia: Texas
- Google Search: Texas business rankings
- Google Scholar: Texas business
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Texas
- Google News: Texas business rankings
Author: STAFF HERE COLLEGE WRITER
The COLLEGE STATION STAFF WRITER represents the experienced team at HERECollegeStation.com, your go-to source for actionable local news and information in College Station, Brazos County, and beyond. Specializing in "news you can use," we cover essential topics like product reviews for personal and business needs, local business directories, politics, real estate trends, neighborhood insights, and state news affecting the area—with deep expertise drawn from years of dedicated reporting and strong community input, including local press releases and business updates. We deliver top reporting on high-value events such as the Brazos Valley Fair & Rodeo, Chilifest, and Aggie Muster. Our coverage extends to key organizations like the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce and United Way of the Brazos Valley, plus leading businesses in education, biotechnology, and retail that power the local economy such as Texas A&M University, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, and H-E-B. As part of the broader HERE network, including HEREAustinTX.com, HEREDallas.com, HEREHouston.com, and HERESanAntonio.com, we provide comprehensive, credible insights into Texas's dynamic landscape.
