With National Small Business Week just two weeks away, the personal finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016’s Best Small Cities to Start a Business.
To identify the most business-friendly small markets in which to launch a new venture, WalletHub’s analysts compared 1,268 small-sized cities across 15 key metrics. Our data set ranges from “average growth in number of small businesses” and “prevalence of investors” to “office-space affordability” and “corporate taxes.”
| Top 20 Best Small Cities to Start a Business | ||||
| 1 | Holland, MI | 11 | Enid, OK | |
| 2 | North Chicago, IL | 12 | Wilson, NC | |
| 3 | Brighton, NY | 13 | Irondequoit, NY | |
| 4 | Jefferson City, MO | 14 | East Chicago, IN | |
| 5 | La Vergne, TN | 15 | Deer Park, TX | |
| 6 | Inver Grove Heights, MN | 16 | Midvale, UT | |
| 7 | Clearfield, UT | 17 | Chesterfield, MO | |
| 8 | Dothan, AL | 18 | Riviera Beach, FL | |
| 9 | Cheyenne, WY | 19 | Maryland Heights, MO | |
| 10 | Deerfield Beach, FL | 20 | Rapid City, SD | |
Comparing the Best & Worst
- Miami Beach, Fla., has the highest number of startups per 100,000 residents, 246, which is seven times higher than in Salisbury, Md., the city with the lowest, 35. [Note: Davie, Plantation, Sunrise and Boca Raton all tied for highest number of startups per capita]
- Santa Paula, Calif., has the highest industry variety, which is four times higher than in Suisun City, Calif., the city with the lowest.
- Bethesda, Md., has the highest percentage of the population with at least a bachelor’s degree, 82.2 percent, which is 22 times higher than in Soledad, Calif., and Wasco, Calif., the cities with the lowest, 3.7 percent.
- Mountain View, Calif., has the least affordable office spaces, with a price of $65.87 per sq. ft. per year, which is eight times higher than in Dothan, Ala., and Kentwood, Mich., the cities with the lowest price, $8.76 per sq. ft. per year.
- Carbondale, Ill., has the lowest labor costs, $17,677, which is 11 times lower than in McLean, Va., the city with the highest, $188,639.
- Weslaco, Texas, has the lowest cost-of-living index, which is six times lower than in Beverly Hills, Calif., the city with the highest.
- East Lansing, Mich., has the shortest average work week, 28 hours, which is two times shorter than in Fort Hood, Texas, the city with the longest, 50 hours.
