Austin Remains Best for Small Business
Here is a great article from Mission Mortgage using information from The Business Journal article of April 10, written by G Scott Thomas on the healthiest business climates in the country. Austin made out well once again. Austin is a prominent player in job creation in the country and this is one of the reason people are moving here in great numbers.
For the third year in a row, Austin is the best city in the South for small businesses. Austin managed to beat out Raleigh, NC for the number one spot. Other Texas markets that made the top ten include Houston, McAllen-Edinburg, and Dallas.
Several factors go into determining the best markets for small business, including population growth, employment gains/loses, and local concentrations of small businesses. Earlier this week the Austin Business Journal reported that Austin has the number 14 population in the United States, with 790,390 residents. Just a few weeks ago we blogged about how Austin has lead the nation in job creation in the the past eight years.
Austin was able to retain its number 1 ranking in large part to its strong growth in population, private-sector jobs, and small businesses. This last statistic is especially important, as only three of the top 37 Southern markets posted one-year gains.
The lowest ranked market in the region for small business is Augusta, GA, because of its low concentration of small businesses and drop in population.
Below is a complete list of the top ten markets for small businesses in the Southern region of the United States:
Dan/April, 2012
