Atlanta is apparently the place to be for gamers, nerds and now, startup hopefuls.
Personal finance site Nerd Wallet just released a new study, this time analyzing the best cities to start a business. Atlanta topped the list, while Seattle came in 7th.
Nerd Wallet looked at the 42 largest U.S. cities and used a methodology based on several factors like ease of funding, business-friendliness, local economy, ease of hiring and affordability.
Here’s what they based their scores on:
- C&I Loans from community banks (with assets less than $1 billion) with original amounts under $250,000 via the FDIC, as of December 31, 2012
- Number of businesses per 100 residents from the U.S. Census
- Business friendliness ratings from Thumbtack’s Survey of Small Business Owners (half-weighted)
- Per capita income from the U.S. Census (half-weighted)
- Unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (half-weighted)
- Population growth rate from the U.S. Census (half-weighted)
- Percentage of residents with a Bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Census (half-weighted)
- Cost of living from the C2ER Cost of Living Index
And here’s what they had to say about Seattle:
With a whopping 12.5 businesses per 100 residents, Seattle is clearly supportive of small businesses. There’s plenty of talent in the hiring pool in Seattle as well, and 55.8% of the population has a college degree. Seattle has plenty of business owners to network with at meetups, and entrepreneurs can receive technical assistance, training and loans from Community Capital Development.
Out of the top ten cities, Seattle had the most businesses per 100 residents, the highest per capita income, the highest percentage of people 25 years and older with bachelor’s degrees (55.8%), but also had the highest cost of living.
Another study by Nerd Wallet ranked the top cities for women entrepreneurs, as Seattle came in second for that list.
Previously on GeekWire: What makes the Seattle startup community so cool?
