Ohio ranked No. 1 state for business in CNBC’s 2026 assessment

Ohio has been named the nation’s No. 1 state for business in CNBC’s 2026 America’s Top States for Business study, according to an announcement from JobsOhio and the Ohio Department of Development.

The July 9 announcement marks the first time Ohio has held the top position since CNBC began the study in 2007. The result is a business-climate ranking produced under CNBC’s methodology, rather than an audited finding that Ohio leads every measure of household or labor-market economic performance.

State economic-development officials paired the ranking announcement with JobsOhio’s reported record of completed projects between 2019 and 2025. JobsOhio said it completed 3,117 economic-development projects during that seven-year period.

JobsOhio reports $99 billion in associated investment

According to JobsOhio, those projects were associated with more than $99 billion in capital investment, more than $9.2 billion in annual payroll and 159,000 net new direct jobs.

The figures describe projects completed from 2019 through 2025, not a new package of investments or jobs announced with the CNBC ranking. They also are figures reported by JobsOhio in its announcement; the cited release does not provide an independent audit of the project, job, payroll or investment totals.

The distinction matters when reading the numbers. The 159,000 figure is described as net new direct jobs tied to the completed projects, while the more than $99 billion figure is capital investment associated with those projects. The annual-payroll figure is likewise reported as exceeding $9.2 billion. The announcement does not establish that each reported project outcome is a guaranteed future result, nor does it itemize costs or public subsidies for individual projects.

Ranking offers a benchmark, not a full economic scorecard

CNBC’s No. 1 designation provides a current national benchmark for Ohio’s business competitiveness. But the state’s placement in one study should not be treated as proof that every economic indicator in Ohio is the strongest in the country.

For businesses considering locations or expansion, the ranking is one data point about the state’s standing in CNBC’s assessment. For policymakers and residents, the accompanying project totals point to the scale of economic-development activity that JobsOhio says occurred over the 2019-2025 period, while leaving separate questions about the underlying methodology, project-level public costs and independently verified outcomes.

The announcement also highlighted the importance of retail and wholesale activity to Ohio’s economy. JobsOhio said those industries account for one in four Ohio jobs and 18% of state gross domestic product.

That industry statistic describes the size of retail and wholesale employment and output in the state; it does not mean that the CNBC ranking was based solely on those sectors. The announcement did not specify a next decision, project deadline or additional state action tied to Ohio’s placement in the 2026 study.

For now, the confirmed development is the ranking itself and the historical context supplied by JobsOhio: Ohio reached the top of CNBC’s list for the first time since the study’s 2007 start, alongside the agency’s reported totals for projects completed over the prior seven years.