Clients looking to open a business this year might want to stay close to these big U.S. cities to ensure their success. WalletHub recently analyzed startup opportunities in the 150 most populated U.S. cities in order to find entrepreneurs' best bet to maximize their chances for long-term prosperity.
From restaurant owners to high-tech startups, new business owners have a lot to take into account when starting their ventures. As their agent, it's your job to make sure they have adequate insurance for all their needs — which can vary depending on the risks unique to the areas they are in.
WalletHub ranked 150 cities by comparing them across three key area: business environment, access to resources and costs. WalletHub identified 16 relevant metrics spread through the three areas. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Venture Capital Association, Yelp, Indeed.com, U.S. News & World Report, the Tax Foundation, Areavibes, Council for Community and Economic Research, LoopNet and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., WalletHub ranked the cities from 0 to 100 in each metric(where 100 represents the most favorable conditions and 0 the least).
Those 16 metrics are:
Business environment (50 points total)
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- Length of average work week.
- Average growth of number of small businesses.
- Number of startups per 100,000 residents.
- Average growth of business revenues.
- Five-year business-survival rate.
- Industry variety.
Access to resources (25 points total)
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- Financing accessibility (this metric was calculated by dividing the total annual value of small-business loans by the total number of small businesses).
- Venture investment (amount) per capita.
- Prevalence of investors.
- Human-capital availability (this metric was calculated by subtracting the unemployment rate by the number of job openings per number of population in labor force).
- Higher education assets (average university score and number of students enrolled per capita).
- College-educated workforce (this metric measures the percentage of the population holding at least a bachelor's degree).
Costs (25 points total)
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- Office-space affordability (this metric measures the per-square-foot cost of commercial office space).
- Labor costs (this metric measures the median annual income of the city).
- Corporate taxes.
- Cost of living.
Finally, WalletHub calculated the overall score for each city using the weighted average across all metrics and ranked the cities accordingly.
Here are the top 10 large cities to start a business:
(Photo: iStock)
|10. Amarillo, Texas
|Total score: 49.70.
(Photo: iStock)
|9. Tulsa, Okla.
|Total score: 50.69.
Photo: (iStock)
|8. Springfield, Mo.
|Total score: 50.77.
(Photo: iStock)
|7. Charlotte, N.C.
|Total score: 50.85.
(Photo: iStock)
|6. Salt Lake City
|Total Score: 51.07.
(Photo: iStock)
|5. St. Louis
Total score: 51.81.
(Photo: iStock)
|4. Lincoln, Neb.
|Total score: 52.03.
(Photo: iStock)
|3. Oklahoma City
|Total score: 52.22.
(Photo: iStock)
|2. Grand Rapids, Mich.
|Total score: 52.52.
(Photo: iStock)
|1. Sioux Falls, S.D.
|Total score: 52.65.
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