Top 50 Entrepreneurial Cities Wondering how your burg measures up against other cities? Check out the Visa Entrepreneurial Index to find out.
By Steve Cooper •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
How entrepreneurial is your city? Visa asked that question and developed the Visa Entrepreneurial Index, which assigns a score between 1 and 100 to the nation's major Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) based on two main criteria: the average number of new business licenses and DBA registrations; and the number of utility patents issued.
Rank | MSA | State | Score |
1 | Austin | TX | 95 |
2 | San Diego | CA | 93 |
3 | West Palm Beach | FL | 93 |
4 | Houston | TX | 90 |
5 | Raleigh | NC | 90 |
6 | Dallas | TX | 87 |
7 | Detroit | MI | 86 |
8 | Salt Lake City | UT | 85 |
9 | Phoenix | AZ | 81 |
10 | Seattle | WA | 81 |
11 | Atlanta | GA | 79 |
12 | Indianapolis | IN | 76 |
13 | Charlotte | NC | 75 |
14 | Grand Rapids | MI | 74 |
15 | Tampa | FL | 72 |
16 | Los Angeles | CA | 71 |
17 | San Francisco | CA | 70 |
18 | Boston | MA | 69 |
19 | Hartford | CT | 68 |
20 | Orlando | FL | 68 |
21 | Milwaukee | WI | 68 |
22 | Columbus | OH | 68 |
23 | Portland | OR | 67 |
24 | Sacramento | CA | 67 |
25 | Rochester | NY | 66 |
26 | Jacksonville | FL | 66 |
27 | Denver | CO | 65 |
28 | Las Vegas | NV | 64 |
29 | Cincinnati | OH | 64 |
30 | Chicago | IL | 63 |
31 | Cleveland | OH | 62 |
32 | Philadelphia | PA | 61 |
33 | Buffalo | NY | 60 |
34 | Memphis | TN | 60 |
35 | Kansas City | MO | 59 |
36 | Nashville | TN | 58 |
37 | Louisville | KY | 58 |
38 | New Orleans | LA | 58 |
39 | Greensboro | NC | 58 |
40 | Minneapolis | MN | 57 |
41 | Miami | FL | 56 |
42 | Richmond | VA | 56 |
43 | San Antonio | TX | 56 |
44 | Washington | DC | 55 |
45 | Pittsburgh | PA | 53 |
46 | New York | NY | 46 |
47 | Providence | RI | 38 |
48 | St. Louis | MO | 35 |
49 | Oklahoma City | OK | 28 |
50 | Norfolk | VA | 27 |