As business leaders warn of an eroding atmosphere, Colorado has plummeted to its lowest spot in the 20-year history of CNBC’s Top States for Business rankings, placing the one-time national model now firmly in the middle of the pack among states.
The financial-news network, whose rankings are widely cited by business and economic-development leaders, dropped Colorado this year from No. 11 to No. 25 on its list and noted that it’s now the second-most expensive state for living, behind only California. Though it improved its rankings in technology and innovation versus 2025, the Centennial State fell or remained even in every other category, now ranking in the bottom half of states in areas like business friendliness and infrastructure.
The rankings descent — Colorado placed in the top 10 from 2027-22, reaching as high as third three times — comes as business leaders have warned legislators repeatedly that rising costs and new regulations are making the state less competitive for attracting jobs. A study commissioned by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce found the state is the sixth-most-regulated, due in no small part to laws passed over the last eight years, and another study identified more than 13,000 jobs that employers chose to move or to open in other states since 2019.
“For many decades, the state was proud to rank in the top 10 states in the country to do business, but we have steadily declined in more recent years,” said Rachel Beck, executive director of the Colorado Chamber Foundation. “When businesses thrive, Coloradans have good jobs, a high quality of life, and funding for community priorities. We must work together to take decisive action to address the factors harming our business climate and standing in the way of these shared goals.”
How CNBC determined its rankings
CNBC ranked states across 10 categories, using numerous points of statistical comparison to come to its conclusions. It then weighted the categories based on what is discussed most in states’ economic-development marketing materials. This year, for example, the category of infrastructure had the most weight, as company leaders speak more and more about the need to be near a network of roads, ports and airports and also to have access to reliable electricity, efficient permitting and large-scale computing power, CNBC explained.
Colorado ranked 32nd in infrastructure, down from 11th — one of six categories where it fell below the median among states. Although CNBC did not elaborate in its story about why this state is considered substandard in that area, earning a grade of C-minus, its descriptions of what factors accounted for the scores tracked with complaints business leaders have made in this area.
The speed of permitting has become a major issue, for example, for businesses seeking air-quality permits, which averaged 837 days during the recently completed 2025-26 fiscal year. Developers tie state’s housing shortage is tied to the delays they experience in permitting, and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Weiser commonly cites two businesses who expanded in other states because they could not get permits here in a reasonable time frame.
Roads and data centers also are issues for Colorado
The Reason Foundation, meanwhile, ranked Colorado highways 43rd in performance and cost-effectiveness this year, citing them as having the fourth-worst rural interstate pavement condition and sixth-worst urban interstate pavement condition in the country. A coalition led by the Colorado Contractors Association is pushing a ballot initiative this year to use sales taxes generated by vehicle and automotive-parts sales for highway construction, generating enormous pushback from legislative Democrats.
Meanwhile, the rankings also reflect that business leaders want access to large scale computing power — a desire that comes as Colorado is pushing back in some ways against the development of data centers. Several cities have placed moratoria on the facilities that involve high power and water usage but that also created huge economic impact with their construction, and the Legislature killed dueling bills this year that sought to regulate and incentivize the centers.
In the second-most important category to the scoring — economy — Colorado fell this year from 21st to 28th. While its unemployment rate remains below the national average, its job growth rate has fallen below the national average, and a Colorado Chamber report noted that the state has lost a net total of 34 corporate headquarters since 2022.
Costs of doing business, living in nation’s top quartile
CNBC also ranked Colorado 38th for the cost of doing business — the same as 2025 — a position that business leaders say reflects the increasing regulatory burden that has made companies more likely to look to other states for expansions. And it fell from 47th to 49th for the cost of living, with CNBC noting that Colorado has the fourth-most-expensive rates for homeowners’ insurance and the Colorado Association of Realtors reporting Monday that the median sales price for single-family homes is now $606.500.
Not everything in the CNBC study pointed to dark clouds hovering over the state, however.
Colorado’s highest ranking came in technology and innovation, where it jumped from 9th to 6th in a category that measures everything from patents per capita to the development of semiconductor-manufacturing and artificial-intelligence jobs. The state’s quantum sector is booming after its 2024 designation as a national Tech Hub in this area, and Gov. Jared Polis pushed and signed a law this year that streamlines AI regulation.
Some of Colorado’s rankings more positive
CNBC also ranked Colorado 10th for its workforce quality; the state has the second-highest-percentage of residents who have at least a bachelor’s degree and is streamlining its workforce-training system to make it more accessible to employers and students. And it put it at 14th for its quality of life, a score that remains higher but is declining, likely due in part to the shortage and cost of childcare in the state.
Beck emphasized that while the Colorado Chamber is “very concerned” in the precipitous drop in business rankings, business organizations like hers are stepping up their efforts to turn around the factors that have led to it. Polis signed a law this year requiring more frequent and thorough reviews of the efficacy of existing state regulations, and the business community has been very involved in efforts to boost the workforce-development system and improve Colorado’s ranking for its educational system, which this year ranked 37th in the CNBC study.
“Colorado has always had a culture of collaboration and a roll-up-our-sleeves-and-get-to-work ethos,” she said. “We’re confident that if we put that ethos to work addressing the challenges that led to our drop in the rankings, we can return our state to a place where businesses thrive.”