Study: St. Louis, Springfield, KC earn high marks for cities to startup

May 2, 2017  |  Meghan LeVota

Photo by Bobby Burch

Though still performing well on a national level, Kansas City, Mo., was recently rated as the third-best large city in Missouri for founders to start a business, according to a recent study.

Personal finance website WalletHub found that St. Louis and Springfield are the No. 7 and No. 11 best large cities to start a business in the U.S., respectively, surpassing Kansas City’s rank of No. 32.

WalletHub ranked 150 large cities by evaluating their performance across 18 differently-weighted metrics, ranging from business survival rate and office-space affordability to labor costs and access to resources. To learn more on the study’s methodology, click here.

St. Louis earned a high ranking thanks to its access to resources and low business costs, including low labor costs, office-space affordability, cost of living and corporate taxes. Springfield snagged a No. 1 national ranking for low business costs, which appears to have fueled its top-15 ranking.

Kansas City earned its ranking for relatively low business costs and business environment, which was calculated by startups per capita, five-year survival rate entrepreneurship index and more.

Kansas City’s dropped from its 2016 ranking in the study, in which it earned a No. 16 spot, while St. Louis ranked as the No. 5 city and Springfield earned No. 8.

Across the state line into Kansas, Wichita earned a No. 103 ranking and Overland Park nabbed a No. 122 rating.

Overall, Oklahoma City was ranked the top large city to start a business, followed by Salt Lake City and Charlotte. To see the complete ranking, click here.

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

Tagged ,
Featured Business
    Featured Founder

      2017 Startups to Watch

        stats here

        Related Posts on Startland News

        How Silicon Valley, Topeka joined forces for a downtown tech incubator in Top City capital

        By Tommy Felts | February 27, 2025

        Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro.  TOPEKA — A new incubator is expected to help homegrown tech idealists turn their dreams into successful startups, said Stephanie Moran, sharing a vision for the Link Innovation Labs that…

        Why keep Betty Rae’s from the world? KC ice cream shop franchising brand across region

        By Tommy Felts | February 27, 2025

        Matt Shatto wants to “create smiles across the country” — not just in the metro. His plan: scoop a pint of franchising into the handcrafted mix for Betty Rae’s Ice Cream, a shop that developed into multiple must-visit Kansas City destinations over nearly a decade. Betty Rae’s is now targeting seven cities in the region…

        ProX calls on KC employers to help plant seeds; 1,700 student interns await program’s summer sunlight

        By Tommy Felts | February 27, 2025

        For the fourth consecutive summer, ProX — one of the largest paid internship programs in the country — is giving Kansas City-area employers the opportunity to invest in the region’s future talent, Solissa Franco-McKay shared. The collaborative ProX effort pairs Kansas City students — from both sides of the state line — with area employers…

        Omaha-based Elevator expands its co-working with warehousing model to North Kansas City

        By Tommy Felts | February 26, 2025

        Editor’s note: The following story was published by Silicon Prairie News, an Omaha-based publication of the Nebraska Journalism Trust. Click here to read the original article or here to subscribe to SPN’s newsletter. Following its expansion into Des Moines, Elevator is set to begin development on an additional space in Kansas City that will open…