Best Cities For Young Entrepreneurs
Being an entrepreneur is never easy, either you are young and have the freshness and power to work on your side, along with initiative and courage, or a little more mature and you already know very well the market you are trying to penetrate and succeed on. Entrepreneurship brings a set of challenges for every type of business, therefore choosing the city to operate from might be one of the most important decisions one might take. NerdWallet, quoted by Inc.com, has a few suggestions. The personal finance site recently crunched through numbers from the Small Business Administration, the Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics among other sources to uncover the best cities with thriving communities of educated, young entrepreneurs. Bonus points were awarded to places that were actually affordable.
- Austin, Texas
- San Francisco-Oakland, California
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Denver, Colorado
- Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota
- Seattle, Washington
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Midland, Texas
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Fargo, North Dakota
More explanation and results can be easily found here.
Entrepreneurship is also the rare area of business where youth can be an advantage. Whereas established companies typically look for experience when they hire, a start-up business can benefit from the fresh perspectives and raw energy of younger adults. Younger people like Millennials also have less to lose in terms of an established career and salary, and so they can be more willing to put what they have at risk to create a new business. As people grow older, they tend to lose this appetite for risk.
The data is also supported by a new research from MoneyRates.com that revealed also Texas and Florida offer the best economic climates for young entrepreneurs. Seven of this year’s 10 best cities for young entrepreneurs are located in the Lone Star or Sunshine state, proving that smaller cities have a lot to offer young entrepreneurs who launch their startups outside of major hubs like San Francisco, New York and Chicago. The explication being the fact that “big cities are more likely to take entrepreneurship for granted while smaller cities typically offer incentives that make life as an entrepreneur easier and more attractive”, as Zac Carman writes for entrepreneur.com. Based on the criteria examined, MoneyRates.com named these 10 cities the best for young entrepreneurs in 2016:
- Austin/Round Rock, Texas
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Austin/Round Rock is the third-fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation. Additionally, it is one of the more well-educated areas of the country, with more than one-third of its population having a bachelor degree.
- Raleigh, North Carolina
The city is one of the 10 fastest-growing in the U.S., and boasts the highest number for the proportion of the population with at least a bachelor’s degree.
- Midland, Texas
The city is the second fastest growing in the U.S. and ranks second in young adult affluence.
- Houston/The Woodlands/Sugar Land, Texas
Houston has a high level of young adult affluence, and benefits from Texas’ business-friendly tax policies.
- Crestview/Fort Walton Beach/Destin, Florida (tie)
Because this area, which has one of the highest levels of young adult affluence, is located near a junction with three major highways, it provides great opportunities for business activity. Additionally, Florida has one of the nation’s lowest business tax rates.
- Odessa, Texas (tie)
Odessa ranked fourth nationally in both overall growth rate and young adult affluence.
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota
South Dakota has the second-lightest business tax burden in the country, and Sioux Falls ranks in the top 10 nationally for young adult affluence.
- The Villages, Florida
Even though this is a retirement community, The Villages has the fastest growth rate of any city in the nation. This presents a lot of opportunity for businesses that cater to senior citizens.
- Denver/Aurora/Lakewood, Colorado
The Denver area ranks in the top 10 for educational attainment and young adult affluence. Additionally, it has a healthy growth rate.
- Orlando/Kissimmee/Sanford, Florida
Orlando ranks in the top 10 because of its rapid population growth and favorable business tax climate.
But what about Europe? Nesta launched in 2015 the European Digital City Index (EDCi), a ranking intended to measure how well different cities across Europe support startups and scale-ups in digital industries. Last year, as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, they launched the 2016 version of the EDCi, which again describes the ‘fertility’ or attractiveness of different European cities for digital entrepreneurs.
The city that leads in London, but rankings are very close, especially towards the top, with a fraction of a percentage point separating London from close contender Stockholm. Stockholm performs extremely well for its size, with superb digital infrastructure and a highly digitally skilled population; companies like Skype, Spotify, Klarna, King and Mojang are the result. The highest new entrant is Bristol, which joins the list in 13th place, and scores particularly well due to its receptive entrepreneurial culture and local business environment, while Bucharest ranks only 52 in this top 60.
