Annual list with Entrepreneur magazine focused on best places to live and work
Vermont Business Magazine Livability.com has released its second annual Best Cities for Entrepreneurs list created in partnership with Entrepreneur magazine. Burlington ranked Number 12 on the list, with Alexandria, VA, topping the list. The new rankings combined Livability’s economic development experts and data scientists, who worked in tandem to rank small to mid-size cities across the US on what makes the best places for entrepreneurs to start a business and find quality of life.
Livability.com Comment12. Burlington, VT Population: 42,570 Burlington is not only the birthplace of the ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s, but the birthplace of many burgeoning businesses. The college town made this list for its affordability; it ranked in the top 10 for both affordable housing and per capita food spending. It also ranked in the top 20 for high wage job growth, and in the top 20 for both commute times and transportation affordability, not to mention easy access to broadband. Burlington is also great for the palate, ranking on our Top 10 Best Foodie Cities two years in a row, as well as our Top 10 College Towns and Top 10 Best Downtowns. |
The list is an exclusive, independent editorial ranking by Livability.com that started by reviewing over 2,000 cities across the country before narrowing the rankings to the top 50 cities for entrepreneurs. Each city had to be a great place to do business and feature a community with similarly-minded entrepreneurs – the team used 15 data points to rank the cities that included small business loans, creative class workers, affordability, culture, broadband technology, unemployment rates, high wage growth and diverse demographics, to name a few.
“Every city on this list is a great place for a startup,” says Becky Henson, Livability spokesperson. “What makes this list comprehensive is that entrepreneurs can find a place to start and grow a business, as well as have the amenities of a city where they can actually enjoy living.”
Along with Livability.com’s featured Top 50 Best Cities for Entrepreneurs list, a feature is published in the April 2017 issue of Entrepreneur magazine, that includes interviews from entrepreneurs in each of the 50 cities.
“We often talk about how entrepreneurs improve their local communities, but there’s an important flip side to that: Local communities can help small entrepreneurs thrive too,” says Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine. “Even if you’re not looking to move, we hope that our list of 50 entrepreneur-friendly cities serves as an inspiration. Small businesses are stronger when they work together, and use their local resources and networks to their advantage."
Many of the cities on the list are also featured on Livability.com’s 2017 Top 100 Best Places to Live –the annual list that ranks cities with populations between 20,000 and 350,000. Forty data points were grouped into eight categories to create the rankings: economics, housing, amenities, infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, education and health care.
Livability.com explores what makes small to mid-sized cities great places to live, work and visit. We examine issues related to livability such as walkability, cultural amenities, transportation, urban planning, and sustainability through exclusive research and discussions on our blog. We celebrate the accomplishments of these cities through our monthly top 10 lists, our annual ranking of livable cities, our rich photography and conversations with readers in social media. Livability.com is a division of Journal Communications, Inc.