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April 25, 2022

2022’s Best Large Cities to Start a Business

A tall building in a city

Americans are born with an entrepreneurial streak. It’s in our DNA. From the Gold Rush to the Industrial Revolution to the Internet Age, intense periods of innovation have molded our economy and sparked important societal advancements.

That said, the past few years have been one of the toughest times ever for business owners in the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conditions in the U.S. are improving now that the country has mostly reopened and many people have gotten vaccinated, but many business owners are having trouble finding new employees.

In order to help aspiring entrepreneurs — from restaurant owners to high-tech movers and shakers — maximize their chances for long-term prosperity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, WalletHub compared the relative startup opportunities that exist in 100 U.S. cities. We did so using 20 key metrics, ranging from the five-year business-survival rate to the percentage of residents who are vaccinated to office-space affordability.

For a breakdown of smaller markets, check out WalletHub’s Best Small Cities to Start a Business ranking.