North Carolina

#6of 5163B−

Above: Texas (65). Below: New Hampshire (62).

Pillar by pillar

Starting up

How many businesses get founded here, and what the state takes in tax.

64+9 vs median

Business applications per 1,000 residents1.660 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Census Bureau
State tax collected per resident$3,67868 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections

Population health

One comparable public-health read, asked the same way of every state.

41-9 vs median

Adult obesity, 202434.5%43 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsCDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Firearm-injury deaths per 100,000 (crude)16.938 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsCDC NCIPC, CDC NCIPC 2024

Productive base

Output per worker and how much of the job base is manufacturing.

59+8 vs median

Output per worker$170,62962 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Manufacturing share of jobs8.8%56 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Labour market

How tight the market is, and which way it moved last month.

51+2 vs median

Unemployment rate3.6%60 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment change, latest month-0.01%42 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Prosperity

What the average person in the state actually earns.

49-3 vs median

Per-capita personal income$68,51134 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Adults 25+ with a bachelor's degree or higher37.1%64 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year

Housing permits and prices

Housing units authorised per 1,000 workers, and what housing costs. It counts permits issued, not buildings finished, and says nothing about industrial or infrastructure approvals.

71+13 vs median

Housing units authorised per 1,000 workers1.594 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Census Bureau
House price index (FHFA)707.848 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsFederal Housing Finance Agency

Fiscal standing

How Moody’s rates the state as a borrower: on its general-obligation bonds or, where it has none, as an issuer.

100+8 vs median

Credit ratingAaa · Stable100 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsMoody's, indicative 2025

Openness

Whether the state publishes in a form a machine can read: an open-data portal that answers; incentive, permit and finance records as data; and newsroom feeds.

67+16 vs median

Open-data portal answers an APIYes · www.nconemap.gov100 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsCEFA probe, 2026-09
Incentive, permit & finance datasets00 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsCEFA discovery, 2026-09
Government or agency newsroom feeds4100 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsCEFA probe, 2026-09

North Carolina highlighted. The map is for orientation — the numbers beside it are the reading.

Tax structure

Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections. Where a state levies no such tax the survey records it, and so does this.

Individual income tax: Levied
Corporate income tax: Levied

Credit rating

Long-term general-obligation ratings, or issuer credit where the state carries no GO debt. Indicative as of 2025 and entered by hand, not fetched live. This is the one figure on the page that is an opinion rather than a measurement, and it is the one to verify against current agency reports before relying on it. The Fiscal pillar above scores North Carolina on Moody’s alone, which keeps the mapping from rating to score auditable; S&P and Fitch are printed for context and carry no weight in the index.

Moody’s: Aaa
S&P: AAA
Fitch: AAA
Outlook: Stable

Compare

Each comparison opens on the pillars where the two states differ most.

The full ranking This week in North Carolina Who is arriving and leaving What North Carolina is distinctive for

Industrial project records

Companies in North Carolina named in a research file of 60 curated records, compiled October 1, 2026. Each carries the status that file gives it. None is an Applied America project. Most are foreign-owned; U.S. operators appear where the research names them as counterparties. It is not a census, and amounts are announcement scopes that are never added together.

4 records · 1 documented project · 3 announced investments

Sibanye-StillwaterDocumented project
South Africa · PGM mining / metals recycling · Montana PGM operations and recycling
Montana; Pennsylvania; North Carolina — Existing operations
Company publishes U.S. mining and recycling operations and regional contact routes.
New U.S. capital project or open site search not established. Contact deliverability and investment authority unverified. No open site-selection mandate confirmed.
undated in the sourceSource
NovartisAnnounced investment
Switzerland · Pharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D
North Carolina and other named U.S. sites — Named sites; expansion relationship prospect
Seventh new facility announced under $23bn U.S. plan
Announced scope: 23bn five-year plan
2026-04-30Source
Novo NordiskAnnounced investment
Denmark · Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Multiple U.S. sites including North Carolina — Existing-site expansion program
2025 report describes further $5.6bn U.S. manufacturing investment toward 2028
Announced scope: 5.6bn planned toward 2028
2026Source
Schneider ElectricAnnounced investment
France · Electrical equipment and automation
Tennessee, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, North Carolina — Named expansions; supplier and future expansion prospect
Over $700m U.S. investment planned through 2027
Announced scope: Over 700m
2025-03-25Source