Three Florida cities are ranked in the top 10 across America for their ability to develop and foster a healthy small-business environment.
The financial technology firm Nav recently conducted an analysis to find the cities that most encourage small-business growth in the U.S. Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando are standout cities, per the report.
Nav analysts developed a scoring system for small-business development using factors such as hiring growth, layoffs and pay growth over a two-year period from November 2023 to October 2025.
Jacksonville came in third among U.S. cities for small-business development, with a score of 79.87. That puts Jacksonville behind only St. Louis, which topped the list with a score 96.43, and Philadelphia at No. 2, with a score of 84.89
“When analyzing hiring data between November 2023 and October 2025, we found that Jacksonville saw its greatest increase in small business hiring in July 2025 with a net hiring percentage of 5.1%,” the Nav analysis concluded.
Tampa ranked sixth with a small-business score of 75.95. That was immediately followed by Orlando at No. 7, with a score of 75.80.
Miami also made the top 25, with a score of 66.48. That put Miami at No. 22. No other Florida city placed in the top 50.
Jacksonville also ranked 13th in the country for business pay growth. Jacksonville posted a 6.81% small-business pay growth over the two-year period, which doubled the national average, according to Nav analysts.
Orlando also scored well in that area, with a 9.11% growth in small-business pay growth. That nearly tripled the national average, placing the Central Florida metro area at No. 7 in the nation.
The study found small businesses in general showed a slight decline in hiring across the nation in the study period, with a dip of 0.03% in net hiring.
However, those working at small businesses get paid fairly well. The Nav study found the hourly pay rate for small business employees across the country was $34.31 per hour.