(The Center Square) – Chicago and St. Louis rank low in a new report on the top 100 cities across the country in which to start a business.
The report was done by WalletHub and uses 20 key metrics, ranging from the five-year business survival rate to office-space affordability.
WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez explained why Chicago is so low on this list at No. 65.
“Office space affordability is expensive, labor costs are more, and corporate taxes are very high there, all three of those things make it a little bit harder to run a business there,” Gonzalez said.
The report is broken down into three different categories: business environment, access to resources, and business costs. Chicago, which is 65th on the list, ranks 59th, 17th, and 79th, respectively, in those three categories.
Chicago also struggled when it was compared to other cities in midwestern states, Gonzalez said.
“It is not all based on location,” Gonzalez said. “Lincoln, Nebraska ranked 25th, Columbus, Ohio ranked at 26, and Omaha finished 29th so there are certainly better options for starting a business in the Midwest.”
Gonzalez also said that things like job retention programs could help Chicago improve its ranking.
“I think a job program, especially for those right out of college, could certainly help to make sure that people stay in Chicago so that we have brain gain and not a brain drain, so people want to start their businesses here,” Gonzalez said.
St. Louis finished 85th on the list and dead last in the business environment category. Orlando, Florida, finished first on the list with Washington D.C. finishing last.
