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 |
