It’s no secret that Texas is one of the economic leaders in the country, but CardHub.com’s latest study shows that the state is as good for small businesses as it is for Fortune 500 companies. Houston (leading the Texas way of course), San Antonio and Dallas are among the best cities for small-business employees based on metrics such as average wages for new hires, job growth and hours worked.
Although none of the Texas cities cracked the Top 5, Houston sits right behind at No. 6, followed directly by San Antonio and Dallas. That San Antonio is so high is surprising given that it ranks second-to-last in number of small businesses per capita. But we already know Houston is one of the best places to live, thanks in part to high job growth and low cost of living.
Denver took the No.1 spot out of the 30 largest metros in America. The Mile High City enjoys a workforce that’s growing at the second-fastest rate in the country, and it boasts the fifth-highest wages for new hires. Plus, 90 percent of Denver’s Chamber of Commerce is small businesses.
CardHub set the limit for small businesses at 250 employees even though the designation can cover some companies with up to 500 depending on the industry. The company wrote that it “chose to use a smaller number that is more in line with what the average person considers a small business to be.”
Boston, Minneapolis, Seattle and San Francisco round out the Top 5. The Texas trio is followed by Tampa and Kansas City.
While San Francisco and Seattle led the West Coast, other cities in the region, Sacramento and Riverside, took Nos. 28 and 29, respectively. Detroit finished dead last.
Houston is tops in Texas. Again.
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Photo by Leonid Furmansky