10 Cities With the Hottest Startup Activity A new report from the Kauffman Foundation pinpoints where you'll find the most startup opportunity across the country.
By Nina Zipkin
If you think you'll have to move to the Bay Area to get a foothold in the startup world, think again.
This week, the Kauffman Foundation released its annual Startup Activity Index that explores the state of entrepreneurship across the United States. According to the data assembled in the report, the home of Google, Facebook and Twitter doesn't even crack the top 10. Neither does Amazon and Microsoft's hometown of Seattle.
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Of the 40 cities ranked in the report, researchers found that from 2016 to 2017, the cities that had the biggest boost in startup activity were , St. Louis, Cincinnati and San Antonio, while Nashville, Tenn., Baltimore and Columbus, Ohio, saw their activity rates decline. The bottom five on the list were Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh.
The report weighed three factors when assessing each city's fitness as a startup hub: the rate of new entrepreneurs; the opportunity share of new entrepreneurs (which is the percentage of business owners who left who minimum wage and salaried gigs, other labor market statuses and school to start their companies); and startup density, or the number of startups out of every 1,000 businesses in the area.
Read on for the top 10 ranked cities.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach
Rank 2016: 2
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.56 percent
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs : 81.09 percent
Startup density: 107.8
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
Rank 2016: 1
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.51 percent
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs : 84.73 percent
Startup density: 104.5
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana
Rank 2016: 3
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.56 percent
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs : 80.03 percent
Startup density: 92.3
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos
Rank 2016: 11
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.49 percent
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs : 82.54 percent
Startup density: 95.9
Las Vegas-Paradise
Rank 2016: 5
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.42 percent
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs : 81.93 percent
Startup density: 120.7
San Antonio-New Braunfels
Rank 2016: 14
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.38 percent
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs : 89.97 percent
Startup density: 87.2
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island
Rank 2016: 7
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.41 percent
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs : 84.43 percent
Startup density: 86.5
Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale
Rank 2016: 10
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.38 percent
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs : 87.15 percent
Startup density: 92.1
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown
Rank 2016: 6
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.40 percent
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs : 81.93 percent
Startup density: 92.6
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield
Rank 2016: 8
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.39 percent
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs : 82.87 percent
Startup density: 92.3
