Site Selection Puts Oklahoma in National Top 10 for Workforce Development
North Carolina takes No. 1; Oklahoma also leads the nation in SkillsUSA golds.
OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) — Site Selection magazine’s 2026 Workforce Development Rankings place Oklahoma among the Top 10 states, in a list led by North Carolina, with Utah, Illinois, Michigan, and California rounding out the top five. The rankings emphasize how well states translate education and training into job‑ready skills and productivity.
The publication refreshed its index this year, adding more per‑capita metrics and blending credential attainment, technical skills, and BLS‑tracked productivity with outcomes data from ACT, Lumina Foundation, Strada Education Foundation, SkillsUSA, and the National Student Clearinghouse. In short: the methodology favors states showing ROI on talent, not just program inputs.
Oklahoma drew a separate mention for SkillsUSA performance, finishing No. 1 nationally in gold medals (39) at the 2025 championships—an indicator of hands‑on, job‑ready proficiency across technical fields such as advanced manufacturing, machining, and instrumentation.
