Area Development Names the Top States for Doing Business in 2026

Georgia retains the No. 1 position for a 13th consecutive year as Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina and Ohio round out the top five

JERICHO, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Area Development has released its 2026 Top States for Doing Business rankings, with Georgia earning the No. 1 position for the 13th consecutive year.

Texas ranked No. 2, followed by Tennessee at No. 3, North Carolina at No. 4 and Ohio at No. 5. South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Louisiana and Michigan completed the top 10.

The annual ranking measures how states perform across the factors that matter most to corporate location and facility-investment decisions. For 2026, Area Development surveyed 50 leading site consultants across 20 location factors, ranging from workforce and site readiness to energy, infrastructure, permitting, taxes and operating costs. States were ranked by the number of consultant mentions in each category, with results weighted according to the relative importance of those factors in Area Development’s annual site selection surveys.

“This year’s rankings show that the strongest states are competing on much more than cost or incentives,” said Dennis Shea, publisher of Area Development. “The states at the top are building broad advantages across workforce, infrastructure, speed to market, energy availability and the ability to execute complex projects. That combination is increasingly important as companies face tighter timelines and greater uncertainty around the resources their facilities need.”

The 2026 analysis groups the 20 location factors into four broad dimensions of state competitiveness: workforce, talent and innovation; sites, utilities and infrastructure; government responsiveness and project execution; and cost, tax and long-term operating risk.

The results reveal different paths to competitiveness.

Georgia and South Carolina stand out in government responsiveness and project execution, with Georgia ranking first for both cooperative and responsive state and local government and overall speed to market. Texas demonstrates particular strength in infrastructure and energy, ranking first for availability of industrial sites and buildings, energy availability and grid capacity, and logistics and transportation infrastructure. Workforce leadership is more distributed, with Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia each leading individual talent-related categories.

Cost competitiveness presents another picture. Alabama ranks first for overall cost of doing business and property tax environment, while Texas leads in corporate tax structure and energy costs. Michigan ranks first for climate risk and resilience.

2026 Top States for Doing Business

1. Georgia
2. Texas
3. Tennessee
4. North Carolina
5. Ohio
6. South Carolina
7. Alabama
8. Virginia
9. Louisiana
10. Michigan
11. Indiana
12. Mississippi
13. Kentucky
14. Oklahoma
15. Arizona
16. Arkansas
17. Missouri
18. Florida
19. Pennsylvania
20. Illinois

The full 2026 Top States for Doing Business report includes the overall Top 20 as well as detailed rankings across all 20 location factors, offering corporate executives and site selection professionals a deeper look at where states are building competitive advantages — and where different locations excel depending on a project’s requirements.

Read the complete 2026 Top States for Doing Business report at AreaDevelopment.com.

About Area Development

Area Development is a leading publication covering corporate site selection, facility planning and economic development. Its audience includes executives responsible for corporate location and investment decisions, site selection consultants and other professionals involved in the development of manufacturing, distribution, data center and other major facilities.