Wake County has received high marks in the 2025 Business Facilities Metro Rankings, a report that evaluates more than 25 categories relevant to corporate relocation and expansion decisions. The annual rankings, now in their 21st year, aim to help companies assess site selection options across North America.
This year’s results highlight both Wake County and North Carolina as strong locations for business growth and talent attraction. In the metro area rankings, Raleigh/Cary was named the top large metro for Best Business Climate. Raleigh also placed second for Broadband Speed, while Apex was ranked second among small metros for Quality of Life. Cary earned fourth place in the midsized category for Quality of Life.
Other notable placements include Raleigh/Durham at ninth for Tech Talent (in labor pools between 50,000 and 100,000), fifth for Life Sciences Hubs, sixth for Agritech, and ninth for MedTech/Medical Devices.
At the state level, North Carolina was ranked third both in Best Business Climate and Corporate Tax Climate. The state also placed within the top ten in categories such as Life Science Leaders (#4), Solar Power Installed MW (#4), Food Processing (#5), GDP Growth (#6), Fastest Growing Population (#6), Nuclear Power Generation (#6), Customized Workforce Training (#7), Manufacturing Jobs (#7), AI Growth Hub (#7), Tech Talent Pipeline (#8), Aerospace Manufacturing (#8), FDI Projects (#8), FDI Competitiveness (#9), Agribusiness (#9), and Cybersecurity Talent (#10).
The full rankings are available on the Business Facilities website: https://businessfacilities.com/2025-metro-rankings-report/.
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