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1. Alpharetta, Georgia
2. Redmond, Washington
3. Wilmington, Delaware
4. Troy, Michigan
5. Minnetonka, Minnesota
6. Waukesha, Wisconsin
7. Newport Beach, California
8. Bethesda, Maryland
9. Greenville, South Carolina
10. La Crosse, Wisconsin
Located 26 miles north of Atlanta, this city boasts 15 businesses per 100 people, 65% higher than the average of all the cities analyzed.
The home to Microsoft has been a huge boon for potential entrepreneurs in this Seattle-area city.
Wilmington's 8,500 companies make around $6.8 million each, on average. Not bad for a city in the the second smallest state in the country.
This suburban Detroit city has done an excellent job in recent years diversifying its economy and depending less on traditional automotive.
Fourteen miles from Minneapolis, this small city is anchored by manufacturer Carlson Industries, the 83rd largest private company in the US.
Home to firms like Generac and GE Healthcare, the city's a magnet for talented engineers, scientists and other high-skilled workers.
While financial firms have dominated the local economy for decades, Newport Beach has built its own little tech cluster in recent years.
This suburb of Washington, D.C. offers a median annual income of $111,281 -- among the highest in the entire country.
Entrepreneurs are attracted to this low-cost city's location, right between the region's economic powerhouses, Atlanta and Charlotte.
This city has replaced lost jobs in manufacturing with those in high-skill, knowledge-intensive industries, such as health care.
Industries Driving the Top 10 Small Cities for Business Owners
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Photo credit: Awesome Alpharetta
Photo credit: James Marvin Phelps | Shutterstock
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Photo credit: City of Troy Town | Facebook
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Photo credit: GE Healthcare
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Photo credit: dustin77a | Shutterstock.com
While many factors play a role in thriving businesses, don’t overlook location. According to experts at personal finance site NerdWallet, geography was an important determinant in the top 10 cities for small business success.
Says Cindy Yang, researcher and head of the NerdWallet Small Business Group, “For business owners trying to figure out where to relocate or deciding between neighboring counties, it’s important to figure out where to start and whether it’s affordable.”
That’s why NerdWallet and Entrepreneur Media teamed up for a new study on the best towns for business. Lesser-known cities like Alpharetta, Georgia; Redmond, Washington; Wilmington, Delaware; Troy, Michigan; and Minnetonka, Minnesota were among the top 10.
Related: Industries Driving the Top 10 Small Cities for Business Owners
To assess best business climates, analysts reviewed 463 cities with populations from 50,000 and 100,000 and compared businesses per capita and average revenue per businesses, among other factors such as cost of living and the unemployment rate, weighing data from the U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
“What all the top small cities had in common was that they really still had the fundamentals of a strong local economy in place,” says Yang. For instance, the average median income for the top ten is nearly $65,000, compared with the average U.S. household income of $52,250.
For more insights, check out the key takeaways from this NerdWallet study in the infographic below or learn more about the findings from NerdWallet.
Related: Top 10 Small Cities Where Business is Thriving
Tanya Benedicto Klich
Tanya Benedicto Klich is a data and lists editor at Entrepreneur.com.
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