Ohio ranked as one of the top states for business, according to CNBC report

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - Recent rankings from CNBC show where Ohio stands in the United States when it comes to business. In the latest 2024 report, Ohio not only ranks in the top 10, but improved from its 2023 rank.

CNBC released its ranking of America's Top States for Business in 2024, where the organization scored all 50 states on 128 metrics in 10 categories including infrastructure, workforce, economy, quality of life, cost of doing business, technology and innovation, business friendliness, education, access to capital and cost of living. The states can earn a maximum of 2,500 points, with the most points earning the top spots, according to CNBC.

Ohio was ranked #7 on the list, with an overall score of 1,464. The new score jumped from its 12th-place ranking in 2023. According to a breakdown of the ranking, the state excelled in the cost of doing business, being ranked the second-best in the country and fourth in the U.S. for cost of living.

According to Steve Stivers, president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Buckeye State improved this year in certain categories including education and business friendliness.

"We're excited Ohio is on the move," Stivers said. "In business friendliness, we moved to No. 40 last year and we moved all the way up to No. 24 this year, mostly because Ohio has rewritten our business regulation and made business regulation a little more friendly and easy to deal with, while still looking out for health and safety."

With the state moving in the right direction, Stivers said there's still work to do to improve. In the recent ranking from CNBC, Ohio ranked a score of 38 or a letter grade of an "F" in workforce.

"That's the number one issue we hear from a lot of our business members, and we think it's the number one issue that could move us up toward number one," Stivers said. "It's something that the Ohio Chamber is going to be focused on. We think it's something that policymakers should be focused on, and we think a lot of businesspeople are going to be focused on in their own business of retaining and training employees."

Virginia ranked No. 1 in America's Top States for Business in 2024, with North Carolina in second place, Texas third, Georgia fourth, Florida fifth, and Minnesota sixth.