With 36.2 million small businesses driving roughly 46% of total U.S. employment, small enterprises remain a major force behind the American economy — but location can make a big difference in long-term entrepreneurial success.
To identify the metros where small businesses are best positioned to thrive, CoworkingCafe analyzed 286 U.S. metro areas across three population tiers using 12 metrics tied to entrepreneurial activity, economic performance and workforce strength, including new business formation, small business density and survival rate, GDP growth and coworking availability.
Among mid-sized metros, Charleston-North Charleston ranks #1 nationally, driven by strong business formation, a high share of employment tied to small businesses and one of the country’s healthiest labor markets…