By David Purtell – Digital Editor of the Triangle Business Journal

Raleigh and the rest of North Carolina remain among the best places in the country to do business.

Site Selection magazines’s annual survey puts North Carolina at No. 2 — behind Georgia — among the states with the best business climate while Raleigh comes in at No. 4 for best cities for headquarters.

The 2024 survey asked dozens of site selection experts for their views on everything from their favorite business climates to how they value access to innovation hubs and the importance of power availability.

North Carolina has been among the elite on the list for years as the state’s economy has soared to among the hottest in the country. And much of the activity has been centered in Raleigh and the rest of the Triangle region.

Overall, states in the South continue to dominate the list, filling the top eight spots. South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas were behind North Carolina.

It’s a similar picture with cities. Dallas, Charlotte, Atlanta and Nashville — all located in Southern states — are ahead of Raleigh. Austin, Richmond and Memphis also made the top 10.

In the survey, respondents were asked, “What are the three most important elements of a state business climate?” Workforce, state and local tax policy, and cost of living were listed as paramount while factors such as economic incentives, quality of life and worker training followed close behind.

On the flip side, site selection experts say that labor shortages, affordable housing, upskilling and child care will be the top challenges for businesses in the decade ahead.

As for Raleigh, it has won its share of headquarters relocations in the past year, including a tech firm from New York and an electric vehicle company that picked the city for its U.S. headquarters. Also, a new tower in North Hills was chosen as the global headquarters for a clinical research organization.

Related: North Carolina Ranks #1 State to Start a Business

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The preceding article originally appeared on January 3, 2025 at the Triangle Business Journal’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law.