Charlotte Ranks Among The Top Large Cities in America to Start a Business

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Charlotte Stories
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With May 4th kicking off National Small Business Week but many small-business owners still struggling to hire new employees, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2025’s Best Large Cities to Start a Business, as well as expert commentary.

In order to help aspiring entrepreneurs maximize their chances for long-term prosperity, WalletHub compared 100 U.S. cities across 19 key indicators of startup viability. The data set ranges from the five-year business-survival rate to labor costs to office-space affordability.

Starting a Business in Charlotte (1=Best; 50=Avg.):

  • Overall Rank: 13th
  • 13th – Growth in Number of Small Businesses
  • 36th – Cost of Living
  • 13th – Length of Average Workweek (in Hours)
  • 22nd – Share of College-Educated Population
  • 4th – Industry Variety
  • 35th – Growth of Average Business Revenues

Charlotte ranks just behind Fort Worth and Durham, and just ahead of Arlington and Scottsdale.

Best Places to Start a Business

Overall Rank  City Total Score  Business Environment Rank  Access to Resources Rank  Business Costs Rank 
1 Orlando, FL 65.03 1 36 35
2 Tampa, FL 63.51 4 10 37
3 Austin, TX 60.51 2 4 81
4 Jacksonville, FL 60.50 5 76 18
5 Miami, FL 60.24 3 57 51
6 St. Petersburg, FL 60.19 6 56 29
7 Boise, ID 59.31 10 44 45
8 Atlanta, GA 59.16 14 16 48
9 Raleigh, NC 59.01 24 7 38
10 Hialeah, FL 58.93 8 81 22
11 Fort Worth, TX 58.61 11 14 67
12 Durham, NC 58.37 32 12 25
13 Charlotte, NC 58.04 7 77 33
14 Scottsdale, AZ 57.56 12 5 78
15 Arlington, TX 56.91 9 49 63
16 Dallas, TX 56.64 13 50 60
17 Chandler, AZ 56.27 16 17 71
18 Glendale, AZ 56.15 27 63 26
19 Aurora, CO 56.10 29 35 42
20 Mesa, AZ 55.84 30 47 36
21 Phoenix, AZ 55.71 25 52 40
22 Irving, TX 55.34 15 21 74
23 Tulsa, OK 54.84 54 74 2
24 Gilbert, AZ 54.77 17 11 79
25 Oklahoma City, OK 54.35 56 61 8
26 Indianapolis, IN 54.19 58 51 9
27 Madison, WI 54.09 71 2 49
28 San Bernardino, CA 53.92 18 91 46
29 Garland, TX 53.87 20 38 69
30 North Las Vegas, NV 53.55 28 53 59
31 Winston-Salem, NC 53.20 49 97 4
32 Nashville, TN 53.16 21 29 73
33 Lubbock, TX 53.16 38 66 39
34 Houston, TX 52.78 33 65 50
35 Colorado Springs, CO 52.36 37 84 31
36 Birmingham, AL 52.29 82 33 3
37 Greensboro, NC 52.14 73 55 5
38 Reno, NV 51.93 47 24 66
39 Henderson, NV 51.92 36 43 70
40 Denver, CO 51.72 42 39 68
41 Columbus, OH 51.67 63 15 44
42 Fresno, CA 51.66 41 71 56
43 Plano, TX 51.45 19 3 90
44 Laredo, TX 51.29 52 64 41
45 Kansas City, MO 51.20 79 27 13
46 Detroit, MI 51.01 80 70 1
47 Albuquerque, NM 50.91 64 60 21
48 Sacramento, CA 50.57 40 31 77
49 Las Vegas, NV 50.19 48 78 54
50 Tucson, AZ 50.08 66 80 10
51 Omaha, NE 49.89 76 23 23
52 Chicago, IL 49.23 59 9 75
53 Irvine, CA 49.03 43 1 98
54 Fort Wayne, IN 48.95 70 92 6
55 Los Angeles, CA 48.83 31 22 88
56 Milwaukee, WI 48.63 81 62 16
57 Long Beach, CA 48.48 35 34 84
58 Louisville, KY 48.20 69 79 19
59 Lincoln, NE 47.76 92 37 20
60 Stockton, CA 47.68 51 86 64
61 Santa Ana, CA 47.53 22 72 85
62 Riverside, CA 47.50 23 88 80
63 Cincinnati, OH 47.42 87 45 24
64 San Antonio, TX 47.35 46 98 55
65 Minneapolis, MN 46.69 90 8 61
66 Baton Rouge, LA 46.59 84 85 12
67 El Paso, TX 46.56 53 99 34
68 St. Paul, MN 46.27 86 30 52
69 Buffalo, NY 46.12 99 59 11
70 Corpus Christi, TX 46.02 74 67 47
71 Pittsburgh, PA 45.96 93 20 53
72 Cleveland, OH 45.89 89 82 15
73 Newark, NJ 45.71 85 32 58
74 Anaheim, CA 45.29 50 58 87
75 Wichita, KS 45.25 95 73 17
76 San Diego, CA 45.12 34 46 93
77 Bakersfield, CA 44.93 57 89 72
78 Baltimore, MD 44.93 83 68 43
79 St. Louis, MO 44.90 100 19 7
80 Toledo, OH 44.80 91 90 14
81 Philadelphia, PA 44.68 67 83 57
82 Portland, OR 44.64 62 26 83
83 Boston, MA 44.28 72 13 82
84 Chula Vista, CA 44.21 44 48 92
85 Oakland, CA 44.10 45 28 94
86 New Orleans, LA 43.68 97 69 27
87 Anchorage, AK 43.44 39 94 86
88 Memphis, TN 42.52 88 93 32
89 Norfolk, VA 42.27 75 100 28
90 Chesapeake, VA 42.24 68 96 65
91 San Francisco, CA 41.77 26 41 100
92 Lexington-Fayette, KY 41.33 96 87 30
93 Jersey City, NJ 41.25 65 18 91
94 Seattle, WA 41.23 60 6 99
95 Virginia Beach, VA 40.93 77 95 62
96 New York, NY 39.86 78 42 89
97 Fremont, CA 39.70 61 40 96
98 Honolulu, HI 38.70 94 75 76
99 San Jose, CA 38.23 55 54 97
100 Washington, DC 33.85 98 25 95

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of each city, and a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for each category.