South Carolina Ranks 23rd in CNBC 2026 Business Study

South Carolina placed 23rd in CNBC's 2026 Top States for Business ranking, with a top-ten workforce score offsetting persistent infrastructure and quality-of-life deficits.

Lead

South Carolina secured the 23rd spot in CNBC's 2026 America's Top States for Business ranking, released July 9, 2026 — the study's 20th edition — as a competitive labor market and robust economic output kept the state in the upper half nationally, even as infrastructure and permitting weaknesses eroded ground gained in prior years. The overall position marks a five-rank decline from 18th place in 2025, illustrating the sharper benchmarking introduced by CNBC's expanded 138-metric methodology.

What Happened

CNBC's annual competitiveness study evaluated all 50 states across ten categories weighted by factors companies prioritize in site-selection decisions. South Carolina finished 23rd overall, driven by category-level performances that ranged from nationally elite to well below average.

The state's economy category scored 6th nationally, earning an A-minus grade and reflecting sustained job creation, population inflows, and manufacturing output. On US state workforce rankings, South Carolina placed 8th — a B grade — supported by a total seasonally adjusted labor pool of approximately 2.55 million workers, monthly non-farm payroll additions of 2,600 jobs, and a suite of publicly funded training programs including the readySC initiative, delivered through 16 technical colleges at no cost to employers.

Greenville County, the state's largest labor market, posted a 3.7% unemployment rate as of the study period, well below the statewide figure of 4.8% recorded in May 2026.

SC Economic Growth in Context

Manufacturing remains a structural anchor, with the sector drawing continued foreign direct investment and supporting an export-oriented supply chain across the Upstate and Lowcountry regions. The state's apprenticeship ecosystem, including a $6,000 per-apprentice tax credit through Apprenticeship Carolina and newly launched AI-ready career and technical education pathways covering advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and supply chain logistics, signals deliberate investment in long-cycle workforce capacity.

Where South Carolina Fell Short

Despite workforce and economic strengths, several categories constrained the state's total score. Infrastructure landed at 27th, cost of doing business at 31st, access to capital at 31st, and technology and innovation at 28th. Quality of life ranked 36th and business friendliness 38th — the latter a category CNBC expanded in 2026 to include ease-of-permitting metrics for the first time, a methodological change that affected states with complex regulatory environments.

The combined drag from these lower-tier categories explains the bulk of the year-over-year decline. Ohio, which topped the 2026 overall rankings, and North Carolina, which placed second, both scored more consistently across infrastructure, business friendliness, and innovation — areas where South Carolina's uneven performance limited upside.

Strategic Context

The CNBC top states for business study functions as a de facto scorecard for economic development officials and site selectors who assess regional investment climates. A 23rd-place finish positions South Carolina as a competitive but not dominant destination, particularly relative to regional peers: North Carolina (2nd) and Georgia (7th) present stronger composite profiles to companies weighing Southeast expansion.

The widening gap between South Carolina's labor-market and economic scores on one hand, and its infrastructure and regulatory scores on the other, reflects a recurring tension in the state's competitiveness narrative. Highway and port infrastructure investments, along with streamlined permitting frameworks, represent the clearest levers available to reverse the recent decline.

For manufacturers and logistics operators already operating in the state, the workforce ranking reinforces South Carolina's reputation as a reliable talent pipeline, particularly in skilled trades and technical disciplines supported by the state's technical college system.

Outlook

South Carolina's combination of a top-ten economy score and top-ten workforce ranking in the CNBC top states for business index confirms a durable competitive floor, even as the overall 23rd-place position reflects unresolved gaps in infrastructure, regulatory efficiency, and quality-of-life indicators. Sustained population growth, manufacturing investment, and expanding workforce-development pipelines provide momentum, but closing the distance on higher-ranked Southeast competitors will require visible progress in permitting reform and infrastructure capacity. The 2027 edition will serve as the first meaningful test of whether policy responses to the current study translate into measurable ranking improvement.

Economic Report }}