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Startups & Venture

Here are the best cities to start your own business

By
Benjamin Snyder
Benjamin Snyder
Managing Editor
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April 27, 2015, 11:45 AM ET
Photograph by Jeremy Woodhouse — Getty Images

A study released Monday found that Shreveport, La., is the best place in the U.S. to start a business.

WalletHub, a personal finance social network, released the study, which analyzed start-up opportunities in the 150 most-populated cities in the U.S.

“We did so using 13 key metrics, such as the number of small businesses per capita, financing accessibility and the educational attainment of the local workforce,” WalletHub said.

The top 10 cities are as follows:

1. Shreveport, La.
2. Tulsa, Okla.
3. Springfield, Mo.
4. Chattanooga, Tenn.
5. Jackson, Miss.
6. Sioux Falls, S.D.
7. Memphis, Tenn.
8. Augusta, Ga.
9. Greensboro, N.C.
10. Columbus, Ga.

The study continues:

Driven by a dearth of traditional job opportunities and a reenergized hesitancy to put one’s fate in the hands of others, somewhere between 15 million and 53 million Americans are now working for themselves. There is always room in the market for new ideas, products, services and multi-million-dollar success stories — if one knows where to look.

Among the metrics analyzed to determine the best and worst cities to start a business, the survey looked at topics falling under “access to resources” and “business environment.” The full list can be found here.

Curious about the lowest-ranked city in the U.S.? It’s Newark, N.J., according to WalletHub.

About the Author
By Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor
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Benjamin Snyder is Fortune's managing editor, leading operations for the newsroom.

Prior to rejoining Fortune, he was a managing editor at Business Insider and has worked as an editor for Bloomberg, LinkedIn and CNBC, covering leadership stories, sports business, careers and business news. He started his career as a breaking news reporter at Fortune in 2014.

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