Ohio business rankings just flipped a long Rust Belt script. CNBC’s 2026 America’s Top States for Business study put the Buckeye State first for the first time, after a climb from 30th in the inaugural 2007 list.
The win is not a vibe check. Ohio scored 1,623 of 2,500 points across 10 competitiveness categories. Infrastructure carried the heaviest weight this year, and Ohio finished No. 1 there. Cost of doing business also ranked first.
What Ohio business rankings reward
More than 143 million people live within a day’s drive of Ohio. That market reach is the core pitch for site selectors. The state also listed 26 “SiteOhio Authenticated” shovel-ready parcels and earmarked $175 million for site readiness last year, second only to California, according to CNBC.
Power and connectivity matter for the next wave of corporate projects. Ohio already ranks in the top 10 for data centers, with 224 facilities tracked by Data Center Map. SoftBank and utility AEP broke ground in March on a planned 10-gigawatt, $4.2 billion campus at the former Portsmouth uranium site in Pike County.
That boom is contested. A grassroots group says it gathered 100,000 signatures seeking a constitutional ban on future large data centers. In May, Gov. Mike DeWine froze the state’s 100% sales-tax break for data-center developers while the gubernatorial race turns on affordability.
Gaps that still limit the crown
Ohio finished No. 35 for workforce and No. 23 for education. Only about 19% of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, Census data show. JobsOhio answered in June with a $300 million, 10-year “earn and learn” push aimed at STEM roles it says will need 540,000 workers this decade.
North Carolina slipped to No. 2 after last year’s title, nine points behind. Virginia, Texas, and Minnesota round out the top five. Arkansas was most improved, rising 13 spots to No. 28. Hawaii finished last.
For Business desks watching corporate site selection, Ohio’s ranking is a signal that logistics, power, and incentives can outweigh education gaps—until the talent pipeline becomes the binding constraint.
What comes next is political as much as economic. DeWine is term-limited. Democrat Amy Acton wants tighter data-center guardrails. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has been more open to the projects if developers pay for their own power. Companies reading the Ohio business rankings should treat the No. 1 badge as a starting map, not a finished operating plan.