Five Florida cities were ranked among the best places to start a business, including the Tampa Bay area’s two biggest cities.
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay area’s two biggest cities are receiving recognition as some of the best cities in the country to start a business.
WalletHub reports Tampa and St. Pete are in the top five best U.S. cities to get a new business started, ranking No. 1 and No. 5, respectively.
The new study compared startup opportunities across 100 U.S. cities, based on 19 metrics such as the five-year business survival rate, labor costs and office-space affordability.
“Starting a business can be very scary, considering one in every five startups doesn’t make it past the first year,” Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst, said in a statement. “That’s why it’s especially important to live in a city that provides an environment where new businesses can thrive, with enough capital, workers and customers to keep it going long-term.”
WalletHub explained that Tampa holds the top spot for business startups due to its low corporate tax rate, which allows businesses to keep more of their revenue.
The city also has a high number of investors per capita, and the combination of low taxes and high capital gives businesses more resources to survive difficult initial years.
Tampa also reportedly scores high on the Entrepreneurial Activity Index, showing a large number of startups in the city that have a high survival rate.
WalletHub gave Tampa an overall score of 64.15.
St. Pete received recognition as the fifth-best city for new businesses, receiving a total score of 59.24.
The study ranks the Sunshine City the 10th best for business environment, 36th best for access to resources and 29th best for business costs.
Tampa and St. Pete were not alone at the top of the study, as the five highest-ranked cities are all in Florida.
The other top-ranked cities include Orlando (No. 2), Jacksonville (No. 3) and Hialeah (No. 4).
The worst-ranked city for new businesses, according to WalletHub, is Washington, D.C.