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Seattle failed to make a top 10 list in a new ranking of entrepreneur-friendly cities. On the compilation by Fits Small Business, Seattle landed 12th behind #1 Austin, Texas and 10 other cities.
All major cities in the United States with a population of at least 500,000, including surrounding metropolitan areas, were ranked using six categories: market size and buying power, startup environment, quality of life, funding and resource availability, safety, and corporate tax rates.
Austin’s high rate of startup growth and abundance of local resources for entrepreneurs helped it earn top billing. Second-place San Diego earned high marks for its local resources for entrepreneurs including five Small Business Administration centers, groups like the San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange and Startup San Diego, along with many accelerator programs and well-known venture capital funding groups.
In addition to Austin, other cities that outranked Seattle were:
#2 San Diego, California
#3 Dallas, Texas
#4 Columbus, Ohio
#5 Raleigh, North Carolina
#6 New York, New York
#7 Houston, Texas
#8 San Antonio
#9 Denver, Colorado
#10 Colorado Springs, Colorado
#11 Boston, Massachusetts
Seattle and Austin both scored zero for their tax climate. Following is a side-by-side comparison of each city’s score on the metrics:
| CITY |
MARKET SIZE (20%) |
BUSINESS CLIMATE (20%) |
RESOURCES (15%) |
SAFETY (15%) |
TAX CLIMATE (10%) |
QUALITY OF LIFE (20%) |
TOTAL RANKING |
| Austin |
27.33 |
19.33 |
11.50 |
31 |
0 |
11.25 |
1 |
| Seattle |
29.00 |
13.67 |
8.00 |
16 |
0 |
8.00 |
12 |
At the bottom of the list are Albuquerque at #35, Detroit, #34, Milwaukee, #33 Miami, #32, and Philadelphia, #31.
Fits Small Business is a digital resource for small business owners, Founded in 2013, it strives to develop “useful and actionable content from an editorial team that includes educators, certified public accountants, insurance agents, lawyers, credit advisors, investment advisors and small business owners.