The home of SXSW, where thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators flock every March, Austin boasts almost 4,900 new entrepreneurs per month. About 80% of those are leaving their old jobs in order to start companies, rather than starting up as a solution to unemployment – always a good sign. The rankings last year had San Jose on top, followed by Austin and Miami. Here’s how Kauffman defines the different terms you’ll see below:
Startup: A business than is younger than one year old. Entrepreneur: Anyone who owns their own business, whether they have employees or not, and works on it for at least 15 hours a week.Rate of new entrepreneurs: The number of people who change from a different job (or no job) to owning their own business, per 100,000 adults per month. Opportunity share: The percentage of new entrepreneurs not coming out of unemployment, which suggests that they are motivated by a market opportunity rather than economic necessity. San Jose has a high 91.2% opportunity share, while Atlanta is the lowest in the top 15 with 69%. Density: The number of startups per 100,000 people. Miami has the highest density, with almost 250. The average startup density of the United States is 130.6.
This ranking was based on the most recent data from the Current Population Survey and the US Census Bureau – in this case, yearly data for 2012 (startup density) and moving averages for 2014 (rate and opportunity share). Here are the 15 US cities with the most startup activity:
1. Austin
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 550 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 79.3% Startup density: 180.8
2. Miami
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 520 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 73.9% Startup density: 247.6
3. San Jose
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 410 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 91.2% Startup density: 168.3
4. Los Angeles
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 500 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 72.3% Startup density: 170.4
5. Denver
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 370 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 85.7% Startup density: 177.8
6. San Francisco
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 390 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 80.7% Startup density: 161.8
7. New York
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 340 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 81.0% Startup density: 197.3
8. Houston
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 400 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 75.4% Startup density: 136.9
9. San Diego
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 340 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 80.9% Startup density: 154.7
10. San Antonio
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 340 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 86.5% Startup density: 111.9
11. Las Vegas
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 380 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 72.7% Startup density: 158.3
12. Columbus
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 350 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 80.0% Startup density: 104.0
13. Atlanta
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 370 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 69.0% Startup density: 154.5
14. Phoenix
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 340 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 76.7% Startup density: 127.5
15. Dallas
Rate of new entrepreneurs: 300 Opportunity share of entrepreneurs: 78.0% Startup density: 142.5 See the full rankings (up to 40 cities), and an in-depth report (PDF). Image credit: Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Foundation / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
