Report: Raleigh 11th best place to start a business

RALEIGH – A new report of the nation’s top cities to start a business ranks Raleigh 11th. And Charlotte ranked 19th in the study, conducted by Real Estate Witch.

Both regions outpaced Austin, Tx., which ranked 23th. Raleigh trailed Kansas City, Mo., and finished ahead of Oklahoma City, Oka.

The study found that during the preceding five years, the number of new business applications per 100,000 residents were 27% higher in the top 15 cities ranked in the study compared to the national average. Raleigh averaged 6,228 new business applications for every 100,000 residents, according to the study.

Other factors contributing to the rankings, which used a weighted average across 11 additional categories, including area average annual income, patent applications, employment growth in the trailing 12 month period, the cost of filing for an LLC, fees associated with incorporating a business, corporate tax rates, geographic-based internet searches, and the number of CEOs per 1,000 residents.

The study found that the annual average income in the statistical area is $60,884, employment growth is 4.9% in the prior 12 months, with filing fees of $125. The study also found that there are 0.6 CEOs for every 1,000 residents in the region, and there are 4.96 patents per 1,000 residents.

‘Massive economic impact:’ Record 178,300 businesses launch in ’21 across NC

Economic impact of startups in NC

According to data from the business registration division of the office of North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, there were more new business filings in North Carolina in 2021 than in any prior year on record.

And those new businesses are likely to have a “massive economic impact,” Secretary Marshall told WRAL TechWire in January.

Statewide, North Carolina was ranked the ninth best state to start a business by WalletHub in July 2021. WalletHub also ranked Durham the second best city in the nation to start a business in April 2021, and the same ranking analysis found Raleigh ranked seventh.

The methodology of the WalletHub study was different than the Real Estate Witch study.

And North Carolina was ranked the top state for business in a November 2021 report.