North Carolina Is The Best State To Start A Business, According To A New Study, But Which Is The Worst?
A recent study conducted by LendingTree revealed that North Carolina is the best state to start a business in, but California is considered the worst.
It’s important for founders – particularly those of color – to pick the right place to start their business as it can potentially make or break their startup.
The Lending Tree study scored the 100 largest US metro areas by population based on factors like the proportion of residents who hold a bachelor’s degree, state corporate tax rates, and local housing costs.
Of course – it’s important to take this study’s results with a pinch of salt because everyone’s journey is different and what to look for in an area as a business owner differs from founder to founder.
The study, drawn from US Census Bureau data and analysis from entrepreneurship nonprofit Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, concluded that three of North Carolina’s top cities — Raleigh, Charlotte, and Durham —offer the best places for small businesses to get started.
Raleigh took the top spot, Austin, TX, sat at number two while Charlotte was at number three, and Durham sat comfortably at number four.
“54.8% of Raleigh’s population is in their prime working years between ages 25 and 54, ninth-highest among the 100 metros,” reports the study.
One reason for North Carolina’s strong representation: The state reportedly offers among the country’s lowest corporate tax rates. According to NBC Make it, it also has the country’s lowest maximum corporate tax rate, at 2.5%.
California offers the worst places to start a small business
Three Golden State metros — Bakersfield, Stockton, and Fresno — take the bottom spots, while Riverside also places in the bottom 10. Bakersfield has the highest unemployment rate — 10.7% — among the 100 metros. It also has the lowest percentage of residents with at least a bachelor’s degree — 17.1% — among the metros.
The West dominates the bottom ten places to start a small business
Honolulu joins the four California metros in the bottom 10, while Midwestern and Northeastern states take the other five.
