Oxfam recently released its Best States to Work Index for 2026, a report that analyzed 37 labor policies among all 50 states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. The report looked at three main categories: wage policies (35% of the score), worker protection policies (35%) and right-to-organize policies (30%). North Carolina ranked dead last overall, scoring a total of just 4.90 points out of a possible 100. The state " which in recent years has often been touted for being one of the best for businesses " received individual category scores of 8.17 for wage policies (No. 51), 5.83 for worker protection (No. 52) and 0.0 for the right to organize (No 47). All scores are out of a possible 100.