The Margin: This list of ‘top states for business’ in the U.S. may surprise you

The analysis is not an opinion survey, but a data-driven report that measures states on 88 metrics including workforce, infrastructure, economy, cost of doing business and several others. Each state can earn a maximum of 2,500 points across all categories and then are ranked based on total points.

Additionally, some categories are weighted higher than others. For example, “workforce” and “infrastructure” are weighted more heavily than “access to capital” and “cost of living.”

Categories are measured in a variety of ways, the report says. Cost of living, for example, measures an index of costs for basic items, and access to capital is measured by state-backed capital and loan guarantee programs.

Here are the full rankings:

North Carolina

Washington

Virginia

Colorado

Texas

Tennessee

Nebraska

Utah

Minnesota

Georgia

Florida

Iowa

North Dakota

Indiana

Ohio

Michigan

Pennsylvania

Oregon

Illinois

Idaho

Kansas

South Dakota

Wisconsin

Massachusetts

Missouri

Kentucky

Maryland

Delaware

California

Montana

Vermont

Wyoming

Alabama

Arizona

New Hampshire

New York

South Carolina

Oklahoma

Connecticut

Nevada

Arkansas

New Jersey

Maine

West Virginia

Rhode Island

Hawaii

New Mexico

Louisiana

Alaska

Mississippi

Only one of the states in the top five (Texas) is also among the top five in total growth domestic product (GDP), according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Some of the biggest states in the country, like California, New York and Florida, are featured much lower in these business rankings.

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“Talking to CEO after CEO, workforce is the driving force for them right now,” North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper told CNBC. “They see North Carolina as a place where they can rely on our community colleges, our greatest array of public and private universities in the country to make sure they have the workforce they need.”

The report comes as the U.S. economy is dealing with surging inflation. According to June CPI data, inflation climbed to a 41-year high of 9.1% year-over-year.

See also: California to send ‘inflation relief’ checks up to $1,050 — here’s who qualifies

President Biden has called the high inflation reading “unacceptably high,” and Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets, said the Federal Reserve will likely have “zero patience” for such high inflation numbers, possibly signaling a benchmark interest rate increase in July or September.