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Written by:

Andrea Pointon

Orlando considered the best city to start a business

According to a survey published on WalletHub.com, Orlando was ranked first out of 100 major cities for starting a new business.

Map of the best cities to start a business - the darker the better.

Methodology

In order to determine the best cities for launching a business, WalletHub compared 100 cities in three main dimensions:

  1. Business Environment;
  2. Access to Resources; and
  3. Business Costs.

According to the researchers, "the sample considers only the city proper in each case, excluding cities in the surrounding metropolitan area". The three dimensions were evaluated using 19 relevant metrics, which are listed on the website with their corresponding weights. Each metric was rated on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for startups. The data for the metrics marked with an asterisk (*) was only available at the state level.

Next, the weighted average of each city across all metrics was determined to calculate its overall score and then the resulting scores were used to rank the sample.

Business Environment - Total Points: 50

  • Length of average working week (in hours): Total weight (~ 6.25 points)
  • Average Growth in the Number of Small Businesses: Full Weight (~ 6.25 Points)
  • Startups per Capita: Full Weight (~ 6.25 Points)
  • Average Business Revenue Growth: Full Weight (~ 6.25 Points)
  • Five-Year Business Survival Rate*: Total Weight (~ 6.25 Points)
  • Industry Variety: Full Weight (~ 6.25 Points)
  • Entrepreneurship Index *: Total Weight (~ 6.25 Points)
  • Employment growth (2017 vs. 2013): Full Weight (~ 6.25 Points)

Access to Resources - Total Points: 25

  • Accessibility of Funding: Full Weight (~ 3.57 Points)
  • Risk investment (value) per capita: Total weight (~ 3.57 points)
  • Prevalence of investors: total weight (~ 3.57 points)
  • Human-Capital Availability: Full Weight (~ 3.57 Points)
  • Higher Education Assets: Full Weight (~ 3.57 Points)
  • Participation of the Educated Population in College: Full Weight (~ 3.57 Points)
  • Growth of the working-age population: total weight (~ 3.57 points)

Business Costs - Total Points: 25

  • Accessibility of office space: total weight (~ 5.00 points)
  • Labor costs: double weight (~ 10.00 points)
  • Corporate Taxes *: Full Weight (~ 5.00 Points)
  • Cost of living: total weight (~ 5.00 points)