LANSING – Michigan’s insulation from the worst impacts of a trade war and federal budget cuts compared with other states, along with its small business survival rate, helped the state to climb to the sixth spot in an annual ranking of the top states for business.
Overall, Michigan’s economy is what led to the higher spot for the state on CNBC’s annual study, America’s Top States for Business, which was released July 10 and is now in its 19th year. Michigan’s ranking improved over the last few years, up from No. 9 in 2024, No. 10 in 2023 and No. 16 in 2022.
Michigan Map flag on American dollars illustration
North Carolina was named the business news channel’s top state for business in 2025 because of its “solid economy, a world-class workforce and a wealth of corporate hospitality,” Scott Cohn, a CNBC special correspondent who leads the organization’s top states for business efforts, said in an article announcing the results.
The top five states are: North Carolina, followed by Texas, Florida, Virginia and Ohio, respectively.
The study ranks states by comparing them across 10 categories of competitiveness, which include infrastructure, workforce and education, among others. Then it analyzes each state’s economic development marketing pitches to determine the appropriate weight for each category.
Cohn said this year, “amid recession fears, more states than ever are touting their economic strengths.” The “economy” category was weighted the highest in this year’s ranking. Other categories rising in importance include “cost of doing business” and “cost of living,” “as inflation fears persist,” he said.
The study also added new metrics this year to gauge the states’ risks from a trade war and a shrinking federal budget, including cuts in federal research grants.
While international goods trade is a significant component of Michigan’s economy (nearly 42% of gross domestic product last year), only a small percentage of that — less than 5% — was with China, Cohn said in an email.
Source Yahoo News
