The best cities for small business development
What cities are primed for small business development? According to The Business Journals' "On Numbers" rankings released in April, the most conducive city in the United States to the creation and development of small businesses is Austin, Texas.
According to the report, Austin has a small-business vitality score of 58.338 and topped the list thanks to its records in 3 statistical categories "that have a direct impact on small-business activity." The first is population. Austin added 286,000 residents between 2004 and 2009, an increase of 20.2 percent, making it the country's second-fastest growing metro area.
Employment in the Austin area also saw good numbers, with the job base expanding by 9.3 percent between 2005 and 2010. Last, but not least, the number of small businesses in the city grew by 1.5 percent between 2007 and 2008, while no other city grew by more than 0.6 percent, according to report.
Rounding out the top 10 cities were: Oklahoma City; Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Seattle; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Raleigh, North Carolina; Denver; the District of Columbia; and New York.
Modesto, California, according to the report, lost 3.4 percent of its small businesses between 2007 and 2008, and 11.3 percent of its jobs between 2005 and 2010, made the bottom of the list. It was joined by Riverside-San Bernardino, California; Detroit; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Sacramento.
