CHARLOTTE – The Queen City metro area’s reputation as a hub for tech beyond fintech is growing as a new study clearly indicates.
Charlotte is the nation’s No. 6 city as a hub for startups and entrepreneurs, says commercial real estate and coworking listing site CommercialCafe.
The same study ranked Raleigh No. 17 among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas.
Citing several factors of selection criteria in which Charlotte ranked well, CommercialCafe listed Charlotte behind Austin, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Denver and San Francisco.
Iona Ginsac wrote about Charlotte:
“While Queen City has already established its reputation as a thriving fintech hub, the community has been looking to diversify in recent years. Our analysis showed that these efforts seem to be paying off.
Study: ‘Booming’ entrepreneurial sector makes Raleigh No. 17 city for startups
“Charlotte’s best scoring metric is the growth in tech ed-certified residents. The number of locals aged 25 and over holding a science and engineering bachelor’s degree or higher increased 15.4% in five years, which ranks Charlotte second on our list.
“The city’s next best strength is the increase in the number of nonemployer firms, the city saw a five-year increase of 3.2%.
“As far as the cost of living goes, Charlotte ranked among the less rent-burdened cities on our list, with the percentage of rent cost and cowork cost adding up to roughly 20% of the local median income for computer, mathematical, architecture, and engineering occupations.
“The same data also showed that wages for these occupations in the Charlotte area have increased an average $1,128 from 2013 through 2017.
“The Charlotte startup scene is also gearing up for growth the right way, with accelerator and mentorship programs such as Innovate Charlotte.
“Additionally, events like Seed the South, which seek to draw local funds for local entrepreneurs, are a bid to keep innovators thriving at home.”
HOW RANKINGS WERE COMPILED
Here’s how CommercialCafe ranked the cities:
- Nonemployer growth (max 10 points)
- Startup survival rate (max 5 points)
- Startup density (max 5 points)
- Startup growth rate (max 5 points)
- Kickstarter success (max 10 points)
- Tech education (max 10 points)
- Tech ed growth (max 5 points)
- Tech employment growth (max 10 points)
- Wage growth (max 5 points)
- Rent/income ratio (max 10 points)
- Coworking cost (max 10 points)
- Millennials percentage (max 10 points)
- Millennial population growth (max 5 points)
