| 1 | Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC Metro Area | Above average opportunities | 2.29 | 
| 2 | Greenville, NC Metro Area | Above average opportunities | 2.26 | 
| 3 | Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area | Above average opportunities | 1.81 | 
| 4 | Fayetteville, NC Metro Area | Above average opportunities | 1.6 | 
| 5 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metro Area | Above average opportunities | 1.52 | 
| 6 | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area | Above average opportunities | 1.45 | 
| 7 | Wilmington, NC Metro Area | Above average opportunities | 1.31 | 
| 8 | Asheville, NC Metro Area | Above average opportunities | 1.31 | 
| 9 | Central North Carolina Balance of State | Average opportunities | 1.15 | 
| 10 | North Carolina | Average opportunities | 1.14 | 
| 11 | Western North Carolina Balance of State | Average opportunities | 1.13 | 
| 12 | Burlington, NC Metro Area | Average opportunities | 1.08 | 
| 13 | Greensboro-High Point, NC Metro Area | Average opportunities | 1.03 | 
| 14 | Eastern North Carolina Balance of State | Average opportunities | 1.03 | 
| 15 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area | Average opportunities | 1.02 | 
| 16 | Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area | Average opportunities | 0.93 | 
| 17 | Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area | Average opportunities | 0.82 | 
| 18 | Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area | Average opportunities | 0.82 | 
| 19 | Goldsboro, NC Metro Area | Average opportunities | 0.8 | 
| 20 | Jacksonville, NC Metro Area | Average opportunities | 0.75 |