With May 4th kicking off National Small Business Week but many small-business owners still struggling to hire new employees, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2025’s Best Large Cities to Start a Business, as well as expert commentary.
In order to help aspiring entrepreneurs maximize their chances for long-term prosperity, WalletHub compared 100 U.S. cities across 19 key indicators of startup viability. The data set ranges from the five-year business-survival rate to labor costs to office-space affordability.
| Best Large Cities to Start a Business | ||
| 1. Orlando, FL | 11. Fort Worth, TX | |
| 2. Tampa, FL | 12. Durham, NC | |
| 3. Austin, TX | 13. Charlotte, NC | |
| 4. Jacksonville, FL | 14. Scottsdale, AZ | |
| 5. Miami, FL | 15. Arlington, TX | |
| 6. St. Petersburg, FL | 16. Dallas, TX | |
| 7. Boise, ID | 17. Chandler, AZ | |
| 8. Atlanta, GA | 18. Glendale, AZ | |
| 9. Raleigh, NC | 19. Aurora, CO | |
| 10. Hialeah, FL | 20. Mesa, AZ |
Best vs. Worst
- Toledo, Ohio, has the lowest average annual rent for office space, which is 6.7 times cheaper than in San Francisco, the city with the highest.
- Cleveland has the lowest labor costs (median annual income), which is 4.5 times lower than in Fremont, California, the city with the highest.
- Laredo, Texas and Toledo, Ohio, have the lowest cost-of-living index, which is 2.2 times lower than in Honolulu, the city with the highest.
- Miami and Hialeah, Florida, have the most startups per 100,000 residents, which is 3.2 times more than in Toledo, Ohio, the city with the fewest.
