Charlotte's Power City Index tops U.S. metros for stock returns in 2025

Charlotte, North Carolina, had the strongest metro stock performance in 2025, with its Power City Index rising more than 22% and edging out Silicon Valley.

The Power City Indexes (PCI) were created a decade ago and track the 11 or 12 largest market-cap companies headquartered in 36 U.S. metro areas. Stocks are equally weighted and median returns are reported using FactSet data; headquarters determine a company’s metro assignment, and a stock remains in an index until it delists.

Charlotte’s win was driven by gains in lithium and industrial names rather than A.I. standouts. Albemarle rose 64%, Curtiss-Wright 57%, and Nucor 40%, with Bank of America, Coca-Cola Consolidated and Sealed-Air also contributing to the strong median return.

Silicon Valley finished second for 2025. Notable performers there included AppLovin (up 112%), Alphabet (66%), Applied Materials (60%), Broadcom (50%) and Nvidia (41%).

The Washington, D.C. metro placed third, about a 17% median return, helped by defense contractors: RTX climbed 59%, General Dynamics 28%, Northrop Grumman 22% and Boeing 23%.

At the other end of the list, Dallas posted the weakest PCI performance in 2025, with a median return of negative 10%.

CNBC highlights the PCI rankings during the year and on CNBC Pro as a regional, headline-grabbing way to compare metro stock-market performance.

Key Topics

Business, Stocks, Charlotte, Power City, Silicon Valley, Markets, 2025