Charlotte ranks high for its AI readiness, but not in all areas
Charlotte ranks among the top U.S. cities for artificial intelligence readiness, but a new study shows it’s still behind in academic research and usage.
The study, done by The Brookings Institution, compared 195 metropolitan areas with populations over 250,000 people.
The study, the first of its kind from Brookings, looked at each city’s AI readiness in areas such as talent, innovation and adoption.
“There’s much that is unclear about AI, but it’s pretty clear that it’s going to have a significant impact not only on the labor market, but especially on productivity in the country,” Mark Muro, the study’s author, said.
The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia area ranked 32nd. That put it in the Star Hub category, which is the study’s second-highest tier. The metro areas in this category have “uniformly strong AI ecosystems, balancing top‑tier talent, research and enterprise uptake.”
Charlotte’s large financial sector helped the area score high on its business adoption of AI technology, Muro explained. Charlotte scored lower in its academic research and adoption metrics.
“We see the strength in the business sector’s orientation to this technology, but we don’t see really deep academic research there,” Muro said.
How Charlotte compares with other cities
Other metro areas such as Raleigh-Cary, Durham-Chapel Hill and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA were ranked higher than Charlotte. Atlanta was ranked 9th overall with Raleigh-Cary at 25 and Durham-Chapel Hill at 26, putting all three in the Star Hub category.
Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill showed high performance in academic research due to area universities such as Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In the adoption category, Atlanta took the lead in startups that are creating AI-driven products with 301. Raleigh-Cary had 76 startups, Charlotte saw 61 and Durham-Chapel Hill had 50.
In the talent category, Atlanta had 429,344 graduates with degrees in computer science, engineering and mathematics. Charlotte had 168,151 graduates, Raleigh-Cary had 141,684 and Durham-Chapel Hill had 51,834.
In the innovation category, Atlanta had 143 AI research papers published at top AI conferences, Durham-Chapel Hill had 89, Raleigh-Cary had 14 and Charlotte had 12.
How colleges in Charlotte are adopting AI
Muro highlighted Central Piedmont Community College as one of the higher education institutions in Charlotte that is researching and adopting AI technology.
CPCC offers a two-year degree for AI technology. Students can learn how to build and use AI. The college is also offering foundational classes on AI usage. The college has also created its own AI chatbot that students can use to ask questions about the college.
“AI is going to become part of that basic skill set that most people need to be in the workforce nowadays,” Joe Little, the dean of technology at CPCC, said.
UNC Charlotte is also integrating AI into its classroom and research.
The university’s College of Computing and Informatics is one of the largest computer science programs in the state. It is working on developing and teaching AI.
“UNC Charlotte’s longstanding expertise in the use and adoption of AI in classrooms, labs and the field was the impetus for our AI Institute, and it positions us to meet the rapidly expanding and competitive needs of the greater Charlotte region and beyond,” John Daniels, UNC Charlotte Vice Chancellor for Research said.
This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 11:09 AM.
