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 |
