Minneapolis is among the nation’s best cities in which to work for a small business, according to a new study conducted by credit card research website CardHub.
Minneapolis ranked third on CardHub’s inaugural “Best and Worst Cities to Work for a Small Business” list, which evaluated the 30 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the United States.
Cardhub evaluated small-business employee success based on small-business job growth relative to overall metro-area work force and population trends, average monthly earnings for new hires, area unemployment rates, and the cost of living in the area, among other factors. CardHub used those weighted factors to rank the 30 largest metro areas on small-business employee success. Click here for the list’s full methodology.
According to CardHub’s findings, Minneapolis has the least amount of job competition among the 30 cities listed. Additionally, companies with fewer than 50 employees comprise approximately half of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce. Within the surrounding metro area, nearly 27 companies have fewer than 250 employees per 1,000 residents. Minneapolis also ranked in the top 10 nationally in terms of small-business vitality, industry variety, and low job-related stress.
Denver, which topped the list, classifies 97 percent of its employers as small businesses and contains a workforce that is growing at the second-fastest rate in the country, according to CardHub. Boston came in second on the list, right before Minneapolis, and Seattle and San Francisco rounded out the top five.
Detroit ranked as the nation’s worst city for small-business employees, followed by Riverside, California; Sacramento, California; Philadelphia; and San Diego.
To see CardHub’s full list of the best and worst cities for small business employees, click here.
Recently, the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area earned a “B+” grade for small-business friendliness, according to a study compiled by Thumbtack.com. The Twin Cities was given the grade based on support for small business owners and for ease of starting a business.
This article is reprinted in partnership with Twin Cities Business.