WRAL reported this weekend about a new report which ranked North Carolina as the best place to do business in the South, and 6th best nationally.

Financial news website 247wallst.com says our state is the best for business in the South and No. 6 best in the nation. Mike Walden, an economist from NC State, is not surprised North Carolina is at the top of another list. “They often find North Carolina is a bargain,” Walden said. Massachusetts topped the list overall while West Virginia came in last. In our state, numbers show we are outpacing a lot of the country. “The labor force grew by two percent, the national number is 1.4 percent,” Walden said.

Walden also noted “we now have either the lowest or one of the lowest corporate income tax rates, and we used to have the highest.”

Walden is definitely on to something. North Carolina has seen tremendous gains in terms of creating a more hospitable climate for job creators over the past decade.

Indeed, the contrast is striking.

In 2010 North Carolina:

had a personal income tax code that topped out at 7.75% – highest in the southeast and 11th highest nationally

had a 6.9% corporate income tax; highest in the southeast

ranked a lowly 39th in the Tax Foundation’s business tax climate index

Today, North Carolina: