Rhode Island is going backwards in another national ranking of business conditions, falling to No. 48 nationally in CNBC’s “America’s Top States for Business 2026″ rankings released July 9.
That drops the state two spots from last year’s ranking and again leaves it lowest among New England states.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
Rhode Island ranked No. 46 in CNBC’s 2025 list and was No. 44 in 2024 after being No. 45 in 2022 and 2023.
For the 2026 report, each state was evaluated on 138 metrics in 10 categories: infrastructure, workforce, economy, quality of life, cost of doing business, technology and innovation, business friendliness, education, access to capital and cost of living.
Rhode Island finished dead last nationally for its economy. Its highest category ranking was No. 16 for quality of life.
Neighboring Massachusetts ranked the highest of all states in the region at No. 15. Connecticut came in at No. 23.
