It’s good to be an entrepreneur in Texas. But which cities are best to start a business? NerdWallet did a study to find out and discovered that the greater Houston area boasts five of the Top 10 cities on the list: Webster (No. 2), Stafford (No. 3), Katy (No. 4), Texas City (No. 7) and Deer Park (No. 10).
To determine the rankings, researchers analyzed 200 places with populations of at least 10,000 to determine their business climates and economic health. Criteria included average revenue of businesses, percentage of businesses with paid employees, median annual income and housing costs and unemployment rate, among others.
Deer Park has the highest median annual income among the Top 10 — nearly $52,000.
Webster is praised for having the highest percentage of businesses with paid employees in the Top 10, at 53 percent, plus a low median monthly housing cost of $973. Proximity to the NASA Johnson Space Center and growth in the medical field — some call the city Texas’ “medical center of the south," according to the study, also account for the high ranking.
Stafford has the third-highest number of businesses per 100 people (15.26) in the Top 10 list, with more than 2,700 businesses are located here, including the headquarters of Seamar Divers, a subsea construction and inspection company, and General Technologies Inc., an equipment manufacturer.
Texas City has one one of the nation’s largest ports, making it a shipping hotspot, and some of the state’s largest petrochemical manufacturing centers and refineries, such those operated by Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Valero. Of the Top 10 communities, median housing costs here are the third-most affordable at $818 a month.
Katy has the most businesses in the Top 10— a whopping 6,907 and the highest number of businesses per 100 people (over 46). Located close to the Energy Corridor, Katy is tied with Temple for second place among the top 10 for the lowest unemployment rate at 3.7 percent.
Katy has the most businesses in the Top 10— a whopping 6,907.
Located near the Houston Ship Channel, Deer Park has the highest median annual income among the Top 10 — nearly $52,000. Shell has a manufacturing site that employs over 1,600 people and chemical companies Lubrizol and Dow also have large facilities.
The greater Houston area boasts two of the top 10: Addison (No. 1) and Farmers Branch (No. 5). The Austin area didn’t show up in the top 10 at all, possibly due to the rising cost of living or the fact that the energy industry lacks a strong presence when compared to Houston and Dallas, according to NerdWallet.
Dallas proper ranks No. 115, Houston proper came in at No. 82 and Austin falls at No. 96. See the complete list on NerdWallet.
Deer Park is a great place to start a business, according to a new survey. It ranks No. 10 on the list of cities in Texas.
