4 takeaways from what Charlotte-region business forecast in the Carolinas for 2026
Businesses across the Charlotte region expect to perform better in six months than they are now, but the outlook isn’t all rosy. They largely expect a leveled off workforce and consumer demand similar to what they have today, while fewer companies expect consumers to pay more for their products.
Those results come from the final Business Trends and Outlook Survey of 2025 by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The ongoing survey of about 1.2 million businesses across the country is published every two weeks for the nation, states and the country’s 25 largest metro areas.
The 11-county Charlotte region also includes York, Lancaster and Chester counties in South Carolina. The region had 2.7 million residents as of 2020 and more than 71,000 businesses in 2023, according to the Census Bureau.
Here’s a look at four key takeaways:
Current business performance in the Charlotte region
A temperature check for businesses across the region shows some level of concern heading into the new year. Asked about current performance, 19.3% of businesses rated themselves as “below average.” That’s the highest rate since May, and only the second time that figure topped 19% in 2025.
Only 19.7% of businesses answered with an “above average” listing. That’s the lowest mark there since September, and one of only four times last year that the above average response dipped below 20%.
The survey doesn’t list numbers when response rates are too low in a category. That’s a way of maintaining privacy. No figure was given for businesses that answered “excellent.”
The final survey of 2025 was the first one since June not to list a response in that category. The region had averaged 15.5% in the excellent listing since July, though November rates at 13% were the lowest in that span.
Cost changes for consumers, companies
The 30.9% of companies that expect their prices to increase in the next six months is down nearly 6% in two weeks and 9% in a month. Another two-thirds of companies expect prices to remain level. That’s more than 6% higher than either of the past two surveys.
About 58% of companies don’t expect demand for their goods to change in six months, with the rest of them split evenly on whether demand will increase or decrease. The rate of companies expecting demand to increase is down more than 7% in a month.
Meanwhile, companies expect their own costs to hold steady. The 53.7% of companies expecting no change is up 12% in a month. Still, 45.1% of companies expect increases. That rate is down 12.8% in a month.
AI usage for Charlotte area businesses
Fewer than one in five businesses in the Charlotte region expects to use artificial intelligence for business functions in the coming six months. The 16.8% response rate of businesses expecting to use AI is less than half of what it was two weeks ago, and down 7.8% in a month.
The rate of companies planning to use AI within six months is 4.7% lower than those reporting they’ve used it within the past two weeks.
Nearly a quarter of companies don’t know whether they’ll use AI within six months, which is up from about 16% during the prior two surveys. More than two-thirds of companies report they haven’t used AI for business in the past two weeks.
Employee hiring and overall business outlook
Not many companies are looking to hire in the coming months. They may not look to downsize either.
A recent uptick to 84.4% of companies expect no change in the number of employees on their payroll, compared to 10.6% of companies that project to have more employees in six months.
The three-fourths of companies that expect their total hours worked to remain the same in six months is steady through the past few surveys.
The overall outlook for businesses is a mix. The 22.2% of companies that expect to perform at an above average level in six months is up 2.5% from the current rate, but about 6% lower than recent responses to the same question.
It’s the same for the 51.3% of companies who expect to perform at an average level in six months.
The 17.9% of companies that project themselves at a below average level in six months is up several points compared to the prior surveys. Yet it’s lower than the 19.3% who list themselves as below average now.
