New Hampshire has a lot going for it, and that is not simply a matter of state pride. A growing number of national rankings and surveys are telling us the same thing: New Hampshire is an attractive place to live, work, invest and do business.

But those same rankings also offer a warning. Our competitive advantages are real, but they cannot be taken for granted. Perhaps the most compelling finding comes from U.S. News & World Report. In its latest Best States rankings, New Hampshire is 1^st in the nation for economic opportunity. The Granite State also ranks first for public safety and second overall among the best states in the country. That is a remarkable endorsement of New Hampshire’s quality of life and, importantly, its economic opportunity.

Other rankings reinforce this point. The Tax Foundation ranks New Hampshire 3^rd in the nation for state tax competitiveness. The American Legislative Exchange Council’s 2026 Rich States, Poor States ranks New Hampshire 22^nd for economic outlook and 18^th for economic performance. Over the past decade, the state’s GDP grew nearly 65%, while domestic migration remained positive and nonfarm employment grew more than 8%.

Chief Executive’s 2026 survey of business leaders places New Hampshire 22^nd among the best states for business, up four places from last year. CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business ranking puts New Hampshire at 34^th overall. While that overall ranking is cause for concern and deeper analysis, a look beneath the headlines highlights more of New Hampshire’s key strengths. The CNBC ranking finds New Hampshire is among the nation’s leaders in business friendliness, quality of life and education.

Taken together, these rankings paint a consistent picture. New Hampshire has many of the foundational ingredients needed to be a national leader in economic competitiveness. We have a quality of life that consistently ranks among the nation’s best, a highly educated population, strong schools, safe communities, a stable and business-friendly regulatory environment, and a competitive tax climate. Our proximity to Boston and other major markets, without many of the tax and regulatory burdens found elsewhere in the Northeast, helps us attract businesses, investment, entrepreneurs and, importantly, people.

But there is another consistent message in the data and these rankings: New Hampshire’s greatest economic challenge may be ensuring that workers can afford to live here and participate fully in the opportunities our economy offers.

Twenty-eight percent of our workforce is over the age of 55, the highest share of any state in the nation. As more workers approach retirement, employers are increasingly competing for a limited pool of available talent. The supply and cost of housing and child care are significant barriers to attracting and retaining the workers our economy needs to continue growing. This workforce crunch for employers translates directly into the cost of doing business and our business community cannot effectively compete nationally if the cost of operating here rises faster than in competing states. That’s why policymakers should make workforce growth the centerpiece of New Hampshire’s economic competitiveness strategy.

That means continuing to protect New Hampshire’s competitive tax environment and resisting policies that increase the cost of hiring, investing and expanding. It means making it easier to build housing, particularly starter homes, workforce housing and housing options for residents looking to downsize. It means continuing to expand access to affordable child care and reducing barriers to creating new child care capacity. It means pursuing an all-of-the-above energy strategy that prioritizes reliable, affordable and abundant power for New Hampshire businesses and families. And it means continuing to improve education while building a more strategically coordinated statewide workforce development system that aligns educational opportunities, training and career pathways with the jobs our economy will create in the years and decades ahead.

New Hampshire does not need to fundamentally change who we are to compete. We need to build on what already makes us strong and address what stands in the way of our next generation of growth.

If we can address the rising costs and workforce challenges that hold us back while protecting the advantages that set us apart, New Hampshire has an opportunity to move beyond being one of New England’s most competitive states. We can become a national leader in economic competitiveness.

Michael Skelton is president and CEO of the Business & Industry Association of New Hampshire. Visit BIAofNH.com.