Looking to build a startup? You may think California, New York, or Massachusetts are the places to go kick things off. However, a recent report by WalletHub may have you thinking twice about the best place to run a business, as they have ranked the best and worst states for startups in the United States of America in 2017.
The study by WalletHub compared the 50 states across 20 key indicators of startup success to determine the most fertile grounds in which to launch and grow an enterprise. These indicators for their methodology were grouped into three basic categories, which include access to resources, cost of business, and business environment. At Tech.co, we recently covered a similar ecosystem of pillars in a report ranking the top tech cities.
Some of the key takeaways included in the report were as follows:
- Iowa has the cheapest average annual rent for office space, $12.08 per square foot, which is 2.2 times cheaper than in New York, the state with the most expensive at $26.66 per square foot.
- Mississippi has the lowest labor costs (median annual income), $39,665, which is 1.9 times lower than in Maryland, the state with the highest at $74,551.
- Mississippi has the lowest cost-of-living index, 86, which is 1.9 times lower than in Hawaii, the state with the highest at 167.
- Massachusetts has the highest share of the college-educated population, 40.5 percent, which is 2.1 times higher than in West Virginia, the state with the lowest at 19.1 percent.
- North Dakota has the most startups per 100,000 residents, 205.92, which is three times more than in West Virginia, the state with the fewest at 69.68.
June 5th: The AI Audit in NYC
Join us next week in NYC to engage with top executive leaders, delving into strategies for auditing AI models to ensure fairness, optimal performance, and ethical compliance across diverse organizations. Secure your attendance for this exclusive invite-only event.
The full rankings of the top 50 states for startups are shown below as ranked by WalletHub.
1. North Dakota
2. Texas
3. Utah
4. Oklahoma
5. Nebraska
6. Florida
7. Colorado
8. Georgia
9. Missouri
10. South Dakota
11. Montana
12. North Carolina
13. Alaska
14. Wyoming
15. California
16. Michigan
17. Virginia
18. Massachusetts
19. Kentucky
20. Vermont
21. Louisiana
22. West Virginia
23. Iowa
24. Wisconsin
25. Illinois
26. Washington
27. Tennessee
28. Mississippi
29. Ohio
30. Minnesota
31. Indiana
32. Idaho
33. Oregon
34. Kansas
35. Nevada
36. Arizona
37. Maine
38. South Carolina
39. New York
40. New Mexico
41. Arkansas
42. Alabama
43. Delaware
44. Connecticut
45. Pennsylvania
46. Hawaii
47. Rhode Island
48. Maryland
49. New Hampshire
50. New Jersey
While I was initially surprised to see North Dakota at the top of the list, I remembered that we’ve covered the growth of startup ecosystems like Fargo in the past and they have done nothing short of incredible work across the board. Even CoSchedule, one of the top startups in our Startup of the Year program last year, hails from the great state of North Dakota.
This post originally appeared on TechCo copyright 2017.
