BOSTON — CNBC released its 20th annual ranking of America’s Top States for Business, which includes both positive and troubling news for Massachusetts. Massachusetts is ranked 15th overall, an improvement from last year’s ranking of 20th.

The Commonwealth continues to benefit from extraordinary long-term assets that few states can match. Massachusetts ranks first in education, sixth in access to capital, and eighth in technology and innovation, demonstrating that its research institutions, talent pipeline, investment ecosystem, and innovation economy remain among the strongest in the world.

At the same time, the rankings highlight persistent structural challenges. Massachusetts remains 49th in the nation for cost of doing business, while cost of living ranks 39th, reinforcing affordability as one of the Commonwealth’s defining economic challenges. Workforce also slipped from 23rd to 26th, reflecting the growing difficulty of attracting and retaining talent as housing and other living costs continue to rise.

CNBC’s analysis emphasizes that Massachusetts’ innovation economy continues to carry the state. CNBC recognizes the Commonwealth’s strengths in technology, education, capital formation, and advanced industries — including its growing defense technology and national security ecosystem.

At the same time, Massachusetts continues to experience one of the highest rates of domestic outmigration, losing 182,000 residents to other states since 2020, with many relocating to states offering a lower cost of living and doing business. Sustaining the Commonwealth’s leadership will require addressing the affordability pressures that increasingly influence where people choose to live, work, and invest.

“Massachusetts’ improvement to 15th nationally reflects the extraordinary strengths of our innovation economy, world-class universities, investment ecosystem, and highly educated workforce,” said Christopher Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council. “But the rankings also make clear that these advantages continue to overcome — not solve — our competitiveness challenges.

“Ranking 49th in the nation for the cost of doing business should concern every policymaker,” he added. “Massachusetts succeeds because of our exceptional assets, not because we have created the most competitive business climate. Our opportunity is to translate these innovation strengths into a more competitive economic environment — one that is more affordable for families, more attractive to employers and entrepreneurs, and better-positioned to retain the talent that drives long-term economic growth.”

Maintaining Massachusetts’ position as one of the world’s leading innovation economies will require building on the Commonwealth’s extraordinary strengths while addressing the structural cost challenges identified in CNBC’s rankings. The Massachusetts High Technology Council will continue advancing data-driven policies that improve affordability, encourage private-sector investment, strengthen workforce development, expand housing opportunities, modernize tax and regulatory policies, and reinforce long-term economic competitiveness.

BOSTON — As Gov. Maura Healey’s Competitiveness Council convenes for its inaugural meeting, the Massachusetts High Technology Council urges it to focus immediately on reforms that will reduce the cost of creating, operating, and expanding businesses in the Commonwealth. Two newly published reports — one on population shifts away from high-tax states, and the other on corporate relocations from Massachusetts — make clear that the state’s competitiveness is at stake.

According to a Nov. 25 report by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, Massachusetts is losing residents at one of the fastest rates in the nation: on net, a taxpayer leaves the Commonwealth every 11 minutes and 38 seconds. The report highlights a broader nationwide trend: individuals and businesses increasingly relocate from high-tax, high-cost states toward states with lower burdens — such as Florida, Texas, and North Carolina — where fiscal policy is more business-friendly.

That trend isn’t hypothetical. A Dec. 2 article in the Boston Business Journal reports that several Massachusetts-based companies — including key players in technology and manufacturing — are relocating or already have relocated operations to neighboring states, including New Hampshire, citing lower costs and a more favorable business environment. The exodus of companies underscores how eroding competitiveness is translating directly into lost jobs and lost economic activity in Massachusetts.

These data points, the Massachusetts High Technology Council argues, cannot be ignored, and demonstrate that Massachusetts risks losing both its workforce and its employers — especially in high-growth sectors — unless state policymakers act swiftly to recalibrate the business climate.

The High Technology Council urges the Competitiveness Council to prioritize three key reforms:

• Tax and regulatory relief, including reviewing state and local tax burdens (including employer assessments like UI), streamlining permitting, and eliminating redundant licensing or regulatory hurdles that add to business costs;

• Incentives for business growth and retention, such as incentives or credits for firms that stay and expand operations in Massachusetts, and support for capital investment and innovation; and

• Competitive cost-of-living and infrastructure policies, which include addressing housing, transportation, and energy costs that influence worker and business decisions about where to locate or expand.

“It’s time to stop treating high taxes and overregulation as immutable,” Massachusetts High Technology Council President Christopher Anderson said. “These reports make it unmistakably clear: talent, companies, and capital are mobile — and they’re voting with their feet. If Massachusetts wants to keep and attract the businesses driving innovation, growth, and high-paying jobs, the time to act is now.”

The High Technology Council looks forward to working with the Competitiveness Council, the Healey administration, and the Legislature to implement pro-growth reforms that strengthen Massachusetts’ competitiveness and position the Commonwealth as a magnet for investment, innovation, and opportunity.