Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Tennessee ranks as the eighth-best state in the country for business, according to a new report from financial network CNBC. The best state was North Carolina, and three of the top seven – Texas (#2), Florida (#3), and Georgia (#7) – were also in the South.

To produce its latest America’s Top States for Business in  2025, CNBC scored all 50 states on 135 metrics in 10 broad categories of competitiveness. The fundamentals of the study, now in its 19^th year, are the same as they have always been, identifying the factors companies consider year after year when making site selection decisions, and that states pitch in their efforts to woo business. Each category is weighted based on how frequently states use them as a selling point in economic development marketing materials, with Economy No. 1 this year.

New in 2025, CNBC added metrics to gauge the states’ risks from a trade war and a shrinking federal budget. The network also enhanced some of its infrastructure metrics to determine how the states are delivering on companies’ power and data demands. CNBC developed its criteria and metrics in consultation with a diverse array of business and policy experts, and the states.

The study is not an opinion survey. Instead, it is based on data from a variety of sources that measure the states’ performance. Under the methodology, states can earn a maximum of 2,500 points. The states with the most points are America’s Top States for Business.

The Volunteer State’s rankings by category were:

1. Economy (#21);
2. Infrastructure (#9);
3. Workforce (#10);
4. Cost of doing business (#10);
5. Business friendliness (#3);
6. Quality of Life (#50);
7. Technology and innovation (#24);
8. Education (#18);
9. Access to capital (#28); and
10. Cost of living (#18).

The rankings can be found here.

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