With April 28 kicking off National Small Business Week, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2024’s Best Large Cities to Start a Business, as well as expert commentary, in order to help entrepreneurs find the right places for their startups to thrive.
WalletHub compared 100 U.S. cities across 19 key indicators of startup viability. The data set ranges from the five-year business-survival rate to labor costs to office-space affordability.
| Best Large Cities to Start a Business | ||
| 1. Orlando, FL | 11. Raleigh, NC | |
| 2. Tampa, FL | 12. Arlington, TX | |
| 3. Charlotte, NC | 13. Colorado Springs, CO | |
| 4. Jacksonville, FL | 14. Dallas, TX | |
| 5. Miami, FL | 15. Winston-Salem, NC | |
| 6. Atlanta, GA | 16. Lubbock, TX | |
| 7. Fort Worth, TX | 17. Hialeah, FL | |
| 8. Austin, TX | 18. Boise, ID | |
| 9. Durham, NC | 19. Reno, NV | |
| 10. St. Petersburg, FL | 20. Aurora, CO |
Best vs. Worst
- Toledo, Ohio, has the lowest average annual rent for office space, which is 6.7 times cheaper than in San Francisco, the city with the highest.
- Cleveland has the lowest labor costs (median annual income), which is 4.5 times lower than in Fremont, California, the city with the highest.
- Laredo, Texas and Toledo, Ohio, have the lowest cost-of-living index, which is 2.2 times lower than in Honolulu, the city with the highest.
- Miami and Hialeah, Florida, have the most startups per 100,000 residents, which is 4.2 times more than in Toledo, Ohio, the city with the fewest.
