Iowa City ranks highest in state.
Top Cities in Iowa to Start a Business
The best small city in Iowa to start a business is Iowa City,
according to a new study.
The 2016
study by personal finance site Wallet Hub ranked Iowa City 52nd in
the county for top small cities to start a business. The study looked at more
than 1,200 cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000.
Other local cities in the top 500 were West Des Moines (93 on
the list), Waterloo (184), Council Bluffs (381), Ankeny (399), Clinton (405),
Ames (423), Urbandale (448) and Dubuque (449).
The study looked at three main factors: business environment
(including startup rate, industry variety and average revenue per business),
access to resources (including financing, investors and employees), and business
costs (including office space affordability, cost of living and corporate
taxes).
The
study ranked Holland, Michigan, the best small city in the country to start a
business, with Suisun City, California, coming in last. California cities, in
fact, take up the last 24 spots on the list.
Agricultural
businesses, light manufacturing and service businesses tend to do best in
smaller cities, said Michael R. Burcham, senior
lecturer of entrepreneurship in the Owen Graduate School of Management at
Vanderbilt University.
