With two in three small business owners saying 2020 was their hardest year ever, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2021’s Best Large Cities to Start a Business, as well as accompanying videos.
In order to help aspiring entrepreneurs maximize their chances for long-term prosperity, WalletHub compared 100 U.S. cities across 21 key indicators of startup viability. The data set ranges from the five-year business-survival rate to COVID-19 cases to office-space affordability.| Best Large Cities to Start a Business | |
| 1. Laredo, TX | 11. Atlanta, GA |
| 2. Durham, NC | 12. St. Petersburg, FL |
| 3. Lubbock, TX | 13. Reno, NV |
| 4. Orlando, FL | 14. Dallas, TX |
| 5. Boise, ID | 15. Winston-Salem, NC |
| 6. Charlotte, NC | 16. Colorado Springs, CO |
| 7. Raleigh, NC | 17. Jacksonville, FL |
| 8. Austin, TX | 18. Kansas City, MO |
| 9. Fort Worth, TX | 19. Nashville, TN |
| 10. Tampa, FL | 20. Irvine, CA |
Best vs. Worst
- Toledo, Ohio, has the lowest average annual rent for office space, $11.93 per square foot, which is 6.7 times cheaper than in San Francisco, the city with the highest at $80.22 per square foot.
- Detroit has the lowest labor costs (median annual income), $30,894, which is 4.3 times lower than in Fremont, California, the city with the highest at $133,354.
- Laredo, Texas, has the lowest cost-of-living index, 79.00, which is 2.5 times lower than in Honolulu, the city with the highest at 198.60.
- Miami and Hialeah, Florida, have the most startups per 100,000 residents, 244.10, which is three times more than in Toledo, Ohio, the city with the fewest at 81.97.
