According to a Forbes slideshow, the 10 best cities for starting a business in the United States is based on:
- Average revenue of businesses
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees
- Number of businesses per 100 people
- Unemployment rate
It’s unclear as to what order these cities are supposed to be in or what makes these metrics an indicator of the best place to start a business. I decided to analyze the data further to determine how each city ranked based on each metric.
Here’s how the cities rank when compared by Average Revenue of Businesses:
In this category, Beaumont – Port Arthur, Texas is #1:
City | Average Revenue of Businesses |
Beaumont – Port Arthur, Texas | $ 2,778,973.00 |
Bridgeport – Stamford – Norwalk, Connecticut | $ 2,145,214.00 |
Fort Wayne, Indiana | $ 1,965,562.00 |
Evansville, Indiana-Kentucky | $ 1,844,834.00 |
Peoria, Illinois | $ 1,698,149.00 |
Green Bay, Wisconsin | $ 1,594,448.00 |
Cedar Rapids, Iowa | $ 1,514,835.00 |
Boulder, Colorado | $ 721,489.00 |
Portland – South Portland – Biddleford, Maine | $ 716,382.00 |
Wilmington, North Carolina | $ 665,548.00 |
Here’s how the cities rank when compared by Percentage of Businesses with Paid Employees:
In this category, Green Bay, Wisconsin is #1:
City | Percentage of Businesses with Paid Employees |
Green Bay, Wisconsin | 31.1% |
Evansville, Indiana-Kentucky | 27.5% |
Portland – South Portland – Biddleford, Maine | 27.5% |
Peoria, Illinois | 27.2% |
Fort Wayne, Indiana | 26.5% |
Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 26.1% |
Boulder, Colorado | 23.8% |
Wilmington, North Carolina | 23.6% |
Beaumont – Port Arthur, Texas | 22.9% |
Bridgeport – Stamford – Norwalk, Connecticut | 22.4% |
Here’s how the cities rank when compared by Number of Businesses per 100 People:
In this category, Wilmington, North Carolina is #1:
City | Number of Businesses per 100 People |
Wilmington, North Carolina | 15.1 |
Boulder, Colorado | 14.1 |
Bridgeport – Stamford – Norwalk, Connecticut | 11.8 |
Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 8.3 |
Evansville, Indiana-Kentucky | 8.2 |
Portland – South Portland – Biddleford, Maine | 8.2 |
Fort Wayne, Indiana | 7.7 |
Green Bay, Wisconsin | 7.2 |
Peoria, Illinois | 7.1 |
Beaumont – Port Arthur, Texas | 6.9 |
Here’s how the cities rank when compared by their Unemployment Rate:
In this category, Cedar Rapids, Iowa is #1.
City | Unemployment Rate |
Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 3.8% |
Portland – South Portland – Biddleford, Maine | 4.5% |
Evansville, Indiana-Kentucky | 4.8% |
Green Bay, Wisconsin | 5.1% |
Boulder, Colorado | 5.2% |
Peoria, Illinois | 5.3% |
Beaumont – Port Arthur, Texas | 5.8% |
Fort Wayne, Indiana | 6.3% |
Wilmington, North Carolina | 6.8% |
Bridgeport – Stamford – Norwalk, Connecticut | 6.8% |
Here is the full list, by city, for the best cities for starting a business in America in 2015:
If you take the ‘best’ of each of the 4 categories, Evansville, Indiana-Kentucky is actually the best city for starting a business in 2015 (the lower the score, the better the rank):
City | Score |
Evansville, Indiana-Kentucky | 14 |
Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 18 |
Green Bay, Wisconsin | 19 |
Portland – South Portland – Biddleford, Maine | 20 |
Boulder, Colorado | 22 |
Fort Wayne, Indiana | 23 |
Peoria, Illinois | 24 |
Bridgeport – Stamford – Norwalk, Conneticut | 25 |
Beaumont – Port Arthur, Texas | 26 |
Wilmington, North Carolina | 28 |
- Average revenue of businesses: $721,489
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees: 23.8%
- Number of businesses per 100 people: 14.1
- Unemployment rate: 5.2%
- Average revenue of businesses: $665,548
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees: 23.6%
- Number of businesses per 100 people: 15.1
- Unemployment rate: 6.8%
3. Bridgeport – Stamford – Norwalk, Connecticut
- Average revenue of businesses: $2,145,214
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees: 22.4%
- Number of businesses per 100 people: 11.8
- Unemployment rate: 6.8%
4. Evansville, Indiana-Kentucky
- Average revenue of businesses: $1,844,834
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees: 27.5%
- Number of businesses per 100 people: 8.2
- Unemployment rate: 4.8%
5. Portland – South Portland – Biddleford, Maine
- Average revenue of businesses: $716,382
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees: 27.5%
- Number of businesses per 100 people: 8.2
- Unemployment rate: 4.5%
- Average revenue of businesses: $1,514,835
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees: 26.1%
- Number of businesses per 100 people: 8.3
- Unemployment rate: 3.8%
7. Beaumont – Port Arthur, Texas
- Average revenue of businesses: $2,778,973
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees: 22.9%
- Number of businesses per 100 people: 6.9
- Unemployment rate: 5.8%
- Average revenue of businesses: $1,594,448
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees: 31.1%
- Number of businesses per 100 people: 7.2
- Unemployment rate: 5.1%
- Average revenue of businesses: $1,965,562
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees: 26.5%
- Number of businesses per 100 people: 7.7
- Unemployment rate: 6.3%
10. Peoria, Illinois
- Average revenue of businesses: $1,698,149
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees: 27.2%
- Number of businesses per 100 people: 7.1
- Unemployment rate: 5.3%