Wisconsin Ranks No. 23 Among America’s Top States For Business: CNBC

WISCONSIN — Infrastructure, education and the cost of doing business in the Badger State propelled it to No. 23 in America’s Top States for Business in 2022, the business and financial news network CNBC’s annual competitiveness ranking.

Wisconsin's most recent score, however, is a drop since last year. In 2021, Wisconsin ranked No. 21 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.

Wisconsin accumulated 1304 points:

Workforce: 197 points, D+ letter grade
Infrastructure: 218 points, B- letter grade
Cost of doing business: 215 points, A letter grade
Economy: 155 points, D+ letter grade
Life, health and inclusion: 144 points, D+ letter grade
Technology and innovation: 140 points, C+ letter grade
Business friendliness: 80 points, D- letter grade
Education: 104 points, B+ letter grade
Access to capital: 23 points, D+ letter grade
Cost of living: 28 points, C+ 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.