North Carolina may not be the top state for business, but we’re getting pretty damn close, says a new study.

The Tar Heel State ranked third among America’s top states for business, according to an annual CNBC report.

Touted as a “scoreboard on state economic climate,” the media outlet scored all 50 states on 64 metrics across 10 categories of competitiveness.

Among them: workforce, economy, infrastructure, cost of doing business, quality of life, education, technology and innovation, business friendliness and access to capital.

Each category is weighted according to how frequently states use them as a selling point in economic development materials.

“CNBC’s criteria was developed with guidance from a diverse array of business and policy experts and official government sources, along with input from the states themselves,” CNBC said in its release.

Interestingly, North Carolina ranked number one when it came to the economy. “No state’s economy is on more solid ground than the Tar Heel State,” the report said.

It also scored high for access to capital (No.6) and workforce (No.7). Where it lagged behind was quality of life (No.35), cost of doing business (No.21) and Education (No.21). For the full list, go here.

Of course, it’s always worth taking these lists with a degree of skepticism.

The same week this CNBC released its list, North Carolina came in 14th place as a place to start a business, according to WalletHub. The financial services site routinely provides reports on business development issues from startups to best places to build a business in small towns and metro areas.

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