Small Business Vitality: Best-to-Worst Rankings for 101 Major Markets

Written on 09 May 2014.

Written by G. Scott Thomas. Published April 2, 2014 on The Business Journals.

Scroll down for The Business Journals' rankings of small-business vitality for 101 major U.S. markets.

Each market's score has been determined by a six-part formula. (See the methodology sidebar for a full explanation.)

The following chart includes a selection of relevant statistics:

Each market's rank and score for small-business vitality
Number of small businesses (companies with 99 or fewer employees)
Small businesses per 1,000 residents
Five-year change in private-sector employment
Two-year change in population
Population

All statistics are the latest official figures currently available: 2011 for small businesses, 2012 for population and 2013 for employment. A few factors that were included in the formula are not shown here because of space considerations.

TBJ SMALL-BUSINESS RANKINGS (2014)

Rank	Market	Score	Small businesses (SB)	SB per 1,000 residents	5-year change in private-sector jobs	2-year change in population	Population (2012)
1	Austin	12.66	40,966	23.01	14.0%	6.2%	1,834,303
29	Nashville	2.75	35,993	21.19	11.1%	3.0%	1,726,693
3	Provo, Utah	9.72	10,696	19.79	10.6%	3.9%	550,845
19	Grand Rapids, Mich.	4.31	17,384	17.45	9.7%	1.6%	1,005,648
5	Houston	8.03	120,183	19.86	8.7%	3.9%	6,177,035
35	Bakersfield, Calif.	1.40	11,725	13.80	8.7%	1.7%	856,158
27	McAllen-Edinburg, Texas	3.02	10,957	13.80	8.3%	3.5%	806,552
13	Dallas-Fort Worth	5.82	136,837	20.83	7.3%	3.9%	6,700,991
4	San Jose	9.24	44,291	23.71	6.6%	2.8%	1,894,388
10	Raleigh	6.44	28,245	24.29	6.4%	4.5%	1,188,564
11	Salt Lake City	5.88	30,581	27.62	5.4%	2.9%	1,123,712
33	San Antonio	1.57	39,404	17.98	5.3%	3.8%	2,234,003
7	Oklahoma City	7.91	32,424	25.41	5.0%	3.1%	1,296,565
42	Charlotte	0.57	42,803	18.96	4.8%	3.3%	2,296,569
40	Indianapolis	0.83	40,862	21.39	4.7%	1.9%	1,928,982
15	Tampa-St. Petersburg	5.39	67,845	24.00	4.6%	1.9%	2,842,878
44	Baltimore	0.49	62,782	22.97	4.5%	1.4%	2,753,149
26	Atlanta	3.12	124,795	23.22	4.3%	2.9%	5,457,831
8	Orlando	7.01	53,659	24.67	4.2%	3.9%	2,223,674
9	Denver	6.79	71,786	27.63	4.1%	3.6%	2,645,209
31	Pittsburgh	1.81	57,515	24.37	4.1%	0.2%	2,360,733
53	Boise, Idaho	-0.07	15,714	25.04	4.1%	3.2%	637,896
61	Allentown-Bethlehem, Pa.	-0.96	17,723	21.47	4.1%	0.6%	827,171
16	New York City	5.21	523,465	26.53	4.0%	1.2%	19,831,858
18	Boston	4.42	118,282	25.69	4.0%	1.7%	4,640,802
68	Columbus	-2.33	37,527	19.49	4.0%	2.0%	1,944,002
57	Ogden, Utah	-0.66	11,067	18.27	3.7%	2.1%	612,441
2	Miami-Fort Lauderdale	10.95	169,440	29.79	3.7%	3.2%	5,762,717
34	New Orleans	1.48	28,321	23.34	3.6%	2.7%	1,227,096
23	Minneapolis-St. Paul	3.49	86,712	25.59	3.5%	2.0%	3,422,264
14	San Francisco-Oakland	5.74	115,376	26.24	3.3%	2.5%	4,455,560
21	Charleston, S.C.	3.99	16,057	23.55	3.3%	4.5%	697,439
64	Greenville, S.C.	-1.42	14,566	17.48	3.2%	2.1%	842,853
47	El Paso, Texas	0.09	13,164	16.03	3.2%	2.9%	830,735
37	Durham, N.C.	1.23	11,322	22.03	3.0%	3.4%	522,826
28	Washington	2.94	136,899	23.72	2.9%	3.4%	5,860,342
72	Louisville	-2.92	28,349	22.77	2.7%	1.1%	1,251,351
17	Portland, Ore.	4.78	60,821	26.90	2.7%	2.6%	2,289,800
20	Seattle	4.06	93,571	26.75	2.7%	3.0%	3,552,157
73	Honolulu	-3.51	20,648	21.37	2.6%	2.1%	976,372
36	Des Moines, Iowa	1.32	14,286	24.60	2.6%	3.0%	588,999
46	Baton Rouge, La.	0.19	17,320	21.42	2.4%	1.4%	815,298
79	Knoxville, Tenn.	-4.20	15,396	18.26	2.3%	1.2%	848,350
50	Jacksonville	-0.02	32,776	24.08	2.3%	2.1%	1,377,850
30	Madison, Wis.	2.45	14,681	23.91	2.3%	2.4%	620,778
12	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.	5.87	15,391	24.37	1.7%	4.0%	645,293
6	Bradenton-Sarasota, Fla.	7.93	19,691	27.77	1.7%	2.3%	720,042
52	Phoenix	-0.04	84,301	19.83	1.7%	2.9%	4,329,534
24	Portland, Maine	3.48	16,742	32.44	1.5%	0.8%	518,117
48	Albany, N.Y.	0.04	20,564	23.55	1.4%	0.4%	874,646
55	Richmond	-0.53	29,814	24.46	1.4%	1.8%	1,231,980
76	Columbia, S.C.	-3.93	16,305	20.99	1.4%	1.9%	784,745
56	Buffalo	-0.62	26,094	22.98	1.2%	-0.1%	1,134,210
86	Worcester, Mass.	-4.93	16,992	18.43	0.9%	0.5%	923,762
63	Detroit	-1.22	94,450	22.03	0.9%	0.0%	4,292,060
25	San Diego	3.21	74,189	23.64	0.8%	2.4%	3,177,063
43	Little Rock, Ark.	0.53	17,045	23.97	0.8%	2.2%	717,666
74	Virginia Beach-Norfolk	-3.68	36,026	21.36	0.7%	1.2%	1,699,925
59	Rochester, N.Y.	-0.89	22,965	21.22	0.6%	0.2%	1,082,284
22	Los Angeles	3.71	324,629	25.08	0.6%	1.6%	13,052,921
84	New Haven, Conn.	-4.68	18,766	21.75	0.5%	0.0%	862,813
38	Chicago	1.21	229,940	24.22	0.5%	0.5%	9,522,434
51	Kansas City	-0.02	48,504	23.95	0.5%	1.2%	2,038,724
54	Omaha	-0.09	21,476	24.48	0.4%	2.0%	885,624
81	Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.	-4.29	63,141	14.68	0.4%	2.5%	4,350,096
82	Hartford	-4.53	28,149	23.17	0.4%	0.1%	1,214,400
78	Toledo, Ohio	-4.10	14,065	23.08	0.2%	-0.2%	608,711
94	Augusta, Ga.	-6.58	9,970	17.46	0.1%	1.6%	575,898
66	Harrisburg, Pa.	-1.78	12,933	23.45	0.1%	0.7%	553,980
93	Jackson, Miss.	-6.53	12,229	21.32	0.1%	1.5%	576,800
65	Philadelphia	-1.66	139,922	23.33	-0.1%	0.8%	6,018,800
62	Akron, Ohio	-1.21	15,926	22.66	-0.3%	-0.1%	702,262
49	Lancaster, Pa.	0.02	11,716	22.36	-0.4%	1.3%	526,823
91	Modesto, Calif.	-6.30	8,121	15.68	-0.4%	1.2%	521,726
41	Tulsa	0.59	23,273	24.62	-0.4%	1.3%	951,880
45	Colorado Springs	0.36	16,109	24.42	-0.5%	2.8%	668,353
32	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, Calif.	1.65	19,261	23.17	-0.5%	1.3%	835,981
69	Providence	-2.56	39,682	24.80	-0.6%	0.0%	1,601,374
71	St. Louis	-2.91	67,594	24.20	-0.6%	0.2%	2,795,794
39	Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn.	1.10	26,148	28.19	-0.7%	1.6%	933,835
80	Cincinnati	-4.22	44,178	20.82	-0.9%	0.6%	2,128,603
58	Sacramento	-0.69	43,355	19.92	-1.0%	1.9%	2,196,482
95	Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa.	-6.69	12,747	22.60	-1.1%	0.0%	563,629
77	Palm Bay-Melbourne, Fla.	-3.99	12,507	22.98	-1.3%	0.6%	547,307
97	Youngstown, Ohio	-6.77	12,355	22.00	-1.3%	-1.2%	558,206
60	Syracuse, N.Y.	-0.91	14,901	22.49	-1.4%	-0.3%	660,934
96	Chattanooga, Tenn.	-6.74	10,622	19.92	-1.5%	1.6%	537,889
83	Cleveland	-4.58	50,196	24.27	-2.1%	-0.6%	2,063,535
88	Milwaukee	-5.39	36,477	23.36	-2.1%	0.7%	1,566,981
85	Fresno, Calif.	-4.90	15,409	16.38	-2.1%	1.6%	947,895
101	Memphis	-9.50	24,310	18.23	-2.2%	1.1%	1,341,690
75	Springfield, Mass.	-3.90	14,323	22.90	-2.2%	0.4%	625,718
98	Stockton, Calif.	-7.11	10,457	15.03	-2.4%	2.2%	702,612
67	Las Vegas	-2.09	38,326	19.48	-2.6%	2.4%	2,000,759
70	Greensboro, N.C.	-2.83	16,847	23.06	-2.8%	1.5%	736,065
87	Birmingham	-5.35	24,576	21.70	-2.8%	0.7%	1,136,650
90	Tucson	-6.11	19,652	19.90	-3.3%	1.1%	992,394
92	Dayton, Ohio	-6.36	16,774	20.94	-3.3%	0.1%	800,972
100	Lakeland, Fla.	-9.42	10,453	17.14	-4.0%	2.1%	616,158
89	Albuquerque	-6.01	18,036	20.10	-6.1%	1.4%	901,700
99	Wichita, Kans.	-9.20	14,044	22.17	-7.2%	0.7%	636,105