Entrepreneurship is a fixture of the 21st century iteration of the American Dream. Today, about 10% of the US labor force works for themselves, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Still, it's no easy task to get a business off the ground. In many cases, the state of a local economy can greatly affect your chance of success.
In it's latest report, WalletHub determined the best places for launching a business based on three categories:
Business environment (50-point weight): five-year business survival rate, length of the average work week, startups per capita, average growth of business revenues, and average growth in the number of small businesses, industry variety, and entrepreneurship index.Access to resources (25-point weight): venture investment per capita, financing accessibility, share of college-educated population, prevalence of investors, high-education assets, human capital availability, and working-age population growth.Business costs (25-point weight): office-space affordability, labor costs, corporate taxes, and cost of living.A total of 18 metrics were gathered for each of the 150 most populated US cities. WalletHub then calculated the total score — the highest of which was a 56.85 — for each city based on its weighted average across all metrics to determine the final ranking (read the full methodology here).
Cities in the Midwest and the South proved to be the best places to start a business in 2017. Below, check out the top-16 cities, along with their total score and individual rankings for business environment, access to resources, and business costs.
16. Lincoln, Nebraska
Total score: 51.95
Business environment: 82
Access to resources: 7
Business costs: 58
15. Laredo, Texas
Total score: 52.11
Business environment: 45
Access to resources: 12
Business costs: 74
14. Port St. Lucie, Florida
Total score: 52.21
Business environment: 54
Access to resources: 26
Business costs: 34
13. Lubbock, Texas
Total score: 52.36
Business environment: 61
Access to resources: 5
Business costs: 83
12. Raleigh, North Carolina
Total score: 52.42
Business environment: 58
Access to resources: 16
Business costs: 47
11. Springfield, Missouri
Total score: 52.60
Business environment: 91
Access to resources: 63
Business costs: 1
10. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Total score: 52.77
Business environment: 50
Access to resources: 64
Business costs: 18
9. Amarillo, Texas
Total score: 53.31
Business environment: 25
Access to resources: 19
Business costs: 82
8. Austin, Texas
Total score: 53.37
Business environment: 4
Access to resources: 9
Business costs: 127
7. St. Louis, Missouri
Total score: 53.54
Business environment: 68
Access to resources: 28
Business costs: 8
6. Durham, North Carolina
Total score: 53.59
Business environment: 69
Access to resources: 14
Business costs: 29
5. Grand Rapids, Michigan
Total score: 54.02
Business environment: 48
Access to resources: 55
Business costs: 10
4. Tulsa, Oklahoma
Total score: 54.16
Business environment: 53
Access to resources: 35
Business costs: 12
3. Charlotte, North Carolina
Total score: 54.90
Business environment: 14
Access to resources: 36
Business costs: 48
2. Salt Lake City, Utah
Total score: 55.14
Business environment: 101
Access to resources: 1
Business costs: 25
1. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Total score: 56.85
Business environment: 6
Access to resources: 71
Business costs: 21
