(The Center Square) – America’s best 150 employers for veterans were recently ranked by Forbes magazine.
Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, is No. 7, North Carolina’s state government is No. 46, Bank of America headquartered in Charlotte is No. 61, and Atrium Health headquartered in Charlotte is No. 107.
In addition to North Carolina’s state government, other government services employers ranked were: No. 1, U.S. Department of Energy in Washington; No. 18, Office of the Director of National Intelligence in Washington; No. 28, U.S. General Services Administration in Washington; No. 81, the IRS in Washington; No. 94, U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington; No. 116, U.S. Government Publishing Office in Washington; No. 126, Architect of the Capitol in Washington; and No. 144, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.
With a little more than a month left in the calendar year, it’s been a solid year of rankings for the state with the nation’s ninth-largest population. The Tax Foundation, in fact, said after the state budget passed this fall that the state should remain among the most competitive in the nation.
• Site Selection magazine, in May, for the third consecutive year named North Carolina the top state and winner of its Prosperity Cup for landing capital investment projects. This award banks heavily on taxpayer subsidies linked to the electric vehicle industry.
• In July, North Carolina won its second straight top ranking for CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business. By categories, the state was first in workforce, third in economy, seventh in education and 10th in business friendliness.
• North Carolina was named State of the Year by Business Facilities magazine in January. It was top five for Tech Talent Pipeline and Foreign Direct Investment/Capital Investment, and has been previously recognized as Business Facilities’ 2020 State of the Year.
• The American Legislative Exchange Council, in April, named North Carolina No. 2 for economic outlook in its annual Rich States, Poor States analysis.
• The Reason Foundation, in April, named North Carolina No. 2 behind Virginia in its Highway Performance and Cost-Effectiveness analysis. The Old North State was No. 17 in 2016, then up to 14th in 2018 and fifth in 2019. The report cautions that methodology has changed, and comparison of one year to a previous isn’t apples to apples.
• In October, the PenFed Foundation ranked Raleigh No. 1 among the top 20 cities for former U.S. service members looking to start a business.
• U.S. News & World Report, in May, said “Raleigh & Durham” and Charlotte are two of the “best” 10 places to live in the nation.
• New Census data, released in May, ranked Charlotte among the fastest growing cities in the United States between 2021 and 2022, putting the Queen City back on the list of the 15 largest in the country. The Census Bureau’s Vintage 2022 estimates said nine of the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities between July 1, 2021 and July 1, 2022 were in the South, with Charlotte in fifth for numeric gains.
• The Tax Foundation, in February, ranked North Carolina’s combined state and local sales taxes 26th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia.
• The Tax Foundation, in September, said North Carolina is 32nd nationally in median property tax bills, though the amount paid ranges widely by county from $742 to $3,784 per year.
• And while it ranked No. 35 and scored a “D” this year, North Carolina’s recent education changes through the state budget would have generated a perfect score in one category and a No. 12 national ranking in the ALEC Index of State Education Freedom analysis. The grade would have been a “B.”