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These are the Best Cities in the U.S. if You’re a Minority Entrepreneur

The top cities in the U.S. for minority entrepreneurs - ranked on opportunities for minorities and startup rates.

By Becky Henson on July 10, 2017

Nashville, TN
Nashville / Brian McCord
Vernon Johnson and John Mark Eberhardt work on their pitch for a new business called Got You In at the Entrepreneur Center in Nashville, TN. The Entrepreneur Center opened in 2010 and helps people looking to create companies in Nashville.

Owning a business is no small venture, but it’s a big business in the U.S. New startups pop up in just about every burgeoning community, and cities across the nation are making it easier to find support for small businesses.

Ranking Entrepreneurs

For the second year in a row we partnered with Entrepreneur magazine to rank the Top 50 Best Cities for Entrepreneurs. Our list focuses on small- to mid-sized cities throughout the U.S., ranked on categories such as small business loans, cost of living, quality of life, income growth and diversity – and much more. But a new list by Market Expert ranked U.S. cities – including large metros – on the best places for minority entrepreneurs, and it caught our eye.

Market Expert’s rankings focus on all U.S. cities that support minorities, as well as healthy startup cultures –including economic opportunities for minorities, companies owned by minorities, access to financial resources, rate of new entrepreneurs and startup density, to name a few. 

If You Haven’t Looked Yet, Discover the Top 50 Best Cities for Entrepreneurs

The Top Three

Houston, TX takes the top spot on Expert Market’s list for its high scores in economic opportunities for minorities, number of minority owned businesses and rate of new entrepreneurs. Miami, FL and Atlanta, GA come in behind Houston, making the Southwest and South ideal areas for minority entrepreneurs. 

Our Top 50 Best Cities for Entrepreneurs looked at communities as a whole for entrepreneurs and ranked them on more than 15 categories – including diversity. Here’s why our top three are different:

Alexandria, VA

Alexandria took our top spot for its high scores in low unemployment rate, diversity, high-wage job growth, creative class workers and educated individuals. The rankings also looked at access to high-speed internet access for businesses – where it ranked in the top scores – and the fact that Alexandria offers a wealth of incubators and support for startups helped the city knock its score out of the park.

Iowa City, IA

Iowa City ranked in our no. 2 spot for our 2017 list, not only has it ranked on our Top 100 Best Places to Live and Best College Towns, but its scores in job attainment rate, diversity and highly-educated community – in part to the University of Iowa – put it at the top spot on the list. The city is also massively affordable for those starting a business, with affordable housing, job wage growth and food affordability getting top scores.

Chapel Hill, NC

Again, ranked on our Top 100 Best Places to Live and Best College Towns, Chapel Hill came in third on our list for entrepreneurs. This city is a mecca for creative class workers and educated individuals. As a city set in the Research Triangle along with Raleigh and Durham, Chapel Hill received top scores for its high-wage job growth, diversity and household income growth as a whole – all while keeping its small town charm.

These are the 10 Best Cities to Live for African Americans

Best in the U.S.

While we ranked small- to mid-sized cities as a whole for our 2017 list of the Top 50 Best Cities for Entrepreneurs, the latest rankings by Expert Market highlight the diversity and growth for minority entrepreneurs in larger metros. Check out their top 10 list below and see how it compares to our top cities for 2017.

  1. Houston, TX
  2. Miami, FL
  3. Atlanta, GA
  4. Riverside, CA
  5. Baltimore, MD
  6. San Jose, CA
  7. Dallas, TX
  8. Austin, TX
  9. Orlando, FL
  10. New York, NY

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