Houston ranks 13th in ‘100 best large cities to start a business’

 HOUSTON – (By Dale King, Realty News Report) – If you’re seriously thinking about starting your own business – as nearly 10 percent of Americans have already done – you might consider giving the State of Texas earnest consideration.

The “Best Large Cities to Start a Business” report released earlier this month by personal-finance website WalletHub in conjunction with the observance of 2019 National Small Business Week compared 100 U.S. cities based on 19 key indicators of startup viability to help aspiring entrepreneurs maximize their chances for long-term prosperity.

For the locals, the report ranked Houston as the 13^thbest city for would-be entrepreneurs to invest their bucks.

Actually, Texas did pretty well overall, placing seven communities in the WalletHub top 20 and 11 municipalities in the top 50. Only two Lone Star cities failed to make the halfway mark, Plano (68) and Garland (76), but even a standing of 50, the report says, is gauged as “average.”

A Number 1 score is the best – but that nugget went to the city that’s home to “the world’s happiest place,” Disney World. Yes, Orlando earned first place with a total score of 60.93, based on tallies from those 19 key indicators.

“Americans are born with an entrepreneurial streak. It’s in our DNA,” said John S. Kiernan, senior writer and editor for WalletHub. “From the Gold Rush to the Industrial Revolution to the Internet Age, intense periods of innovation have molded our economy and sparked important societal advancements.”

In its ranking of the 100 American cities, “we did so using 19 key metrics, ranging from five-year business-survival rate to office-space affordability.”

Actually, Austin was dubbed the best business start-up community in Texas, coming in fourth with a score of 60.05. That tally was based on a first-place finish for business environment, 5 for access to resources and 83 for business costs.

Houston’s score of 56.62 earned it 13^thplace. That figure breaks down accordingly:

• 39^th – Financing accessibility

• 51^st – Office-space affordability

• 36^th – Labor costs

• 33^rd – Cost of living

• 10^th – Length of average work week (in hours)

• 52^nd – Share of college-educated population

• 45^th – Availability of human capital

• 41^st – Industry variety

Overall scores for other Texas communities down the line are: Fort Worth, 11; Dallas, 15; San Antonio, 16; Irving, 17; Laredo, 18; Lubbock, 23; Arlington, 31; El Paso, 36; Corpus Christi, 48; Plano, 68 and Garland, 76.

Some cities that ran afoul overall fared well in specific categories. Plano, for example, came in fourth for most educated population. But it also ranked 96^thin labor costs.

The report lists three Texas towns with long average work weeks: Corpus Christi, 2; Irving, 4 and Dallas, fifth, tied with Virginia Beach, Va.

One category Lone Star staters can be proud of is highest average growth in the number of small businesses. Austin is tied for first with two other entrants, Charlotte, N.C. and Winston-Salem, N.C. while Dallas and Fort Worth are tied for fifth.

Lubbock, the report says, has the most accessible financing.

The report divides scoring into three groupings. The business environment division is worth 50 points and includes length of work week, growth in number of small businesses, startups per capita, average growth of business revenues, five-year business survival rate, industry variety, entrepreneurship index and job growth.

Access to resources is worth 25 points for: financing accessibility, venture investment, prevalence of investors, human capital availability, higher-education assets, share of college-educated population and working-age population growth.

A 25-point score is available for the classification that includes: office-space affordability, labor costs, corporate taxes and cost of living.

May 23, 2019 Realty News Report Copyright 2019