GEORGIA: Alpharetta is the best city in the nation to start a business, according to recent numbers from Nerd Wallet.The website says Alpharetta topped the list thanks to its ability to attract both large and small companies. The numbers crunched by Nerd Wallet suggest the city has 15.07 businesses per 100 people. That’s 65 percent more businesses per capita than the national average of 9.14.
Nerd Wallet analyzed 463 places in the U.S., each with at least 500 businesses and a population of 50,000 to 100,000. They determined the overall score by looking at data from the U.S. Census Bureau to assess each city’s business climate and economic health. The list doesn’t include 25 cities that were missing business survey data.
A common trend was that eight of the cities were near large cities, allowing companies to operate within a smaller, close knit business community while still having access to cities such as Atlanta, Seattle and Washington, D.C. They also have strong economies, boasting low unemployment numbers and high average salaries.
California has five cities in the top 25 list, with Minnesota and Maryland each having three. Nerd Wallet took into account the average revenue of the businesses in each city as well as number of businesses and businesses with paid employees.
