Looking for nation’s lowest-cost small cities for startups? No. 9’s in the KC metro
April 23, 2018 | Startland News Staff
A Kansas City suburb finds itself among the top 10 lowest-cost small cities for starting a business, according to a new nationwide report.
Best Small Cities
by Business Costs
1. Goldsboro, North Carolina
2. Bay City, Michigan
3. Jackson, Michigan
4. Salisbury, North Carolina
5. Sanford, North Carolina
6. Muskegon, Michigan
7. Asheboro, North Carolina
8. Cape Girardeau, Missouri
9. Raytown, Missouri
10. Kalamazoo, Michigan
Raytown, Missouri, lands at No. 9 on the ranking by personal finance website WalletHub — just below Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at No. 8. The rest of the top 10 is filled by markets in North Carolina and Michigan.
WalletHub’s findings were based on office space affordability, labor costs, corporate taxes, and cost of living, examining more than 1,200 small cities (population 25,000 to 100,000) across the United States.
Raytown and Cape Girardeau fared particularly well on the cost of office space, recording some of the cheapest in the nation, according to the report.
Other Missouri cities ranking in the top 100 for low startup business costs included Jefferson City (18), Joplin (49), St. Joseph (56), Hazelwood (67), and Gladstone (93).
Human capital
While no cities in Kansas earned high marks for low costs associated with starting a business, two were noted for their access to resources.
Manhattan, home to Kansas State University, ranked No. 26, followed by suburban Leawood at No. 81, in that category.
Key metrics included financing accessibility, investor access, human resource availability, higher education assets, workforce educational attainment, working-age population growth, and job growth, according the report.
Best in Show Me
Looking at a wholistic spectrum of business costs, access to resources, and business environment, WalletHub also determined an overall ranking of the best cities in which to start a business.
The report suggest a clear advantage for Missouri over Kansas with eight Show Me State cities — largely in the St. Louis metro area — in the ranking’s top 100. Those included Jefferson City (31), Maryland Heights (34), Cape Girardeau (36), St. Peters (38), Chesterfield (70), Hazelwood (75), St. Charles (80), and Wentzville (99).
Raytown ranked No. 187 overall among the 1,261 cities studied. Other nearby Missouri metro markets included Liberty (171), St. Joseph (173), Gladstone (193), and Lee’s Summit (212).
A previous report by WalletHub also lauded Missouri as one of the best states in which to launch a business.
No Kansas cities cracked the top 100 in the latest overall best cities snapshot.
The highest-ranking contenders from the Sunflower State were Dodge City (132), Salina (208), Hutchinson (252), Manhattan (254), and Leavenworth (293).
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Quick studies: These Kansans just left their college careers for $500K (and a crash course in startups)
When a friend encouraged Aditya Joshi and Varun Verma to apply for the Y Combinator accelerator program, the Wichita natives didn’t expect to land an interview, they shared — much less get accepted. “Truly, all we had was this idea and a couple of months under our belt of just talking to different folks,” Joshi…
Siblings spin family pet into family business, capitalizing on alpaca’s plush potential
One Wyandotte County family’s trip to a local fair inspired their interest in alpacas, but it wasn’t until they brought one of the animals home as a pet that they realized the business opportunities they’d unleashed. “That’s where the idea started of — ‘Hey, we can actually make this an Alpaca clothing company and reduce…
Black Drip releases canned cold brew as KC coffee maker leans into creative blends
A new cold brew version from Charon Thompson’s popular Kansas City coffee brand drips with strength, the co-founder said, teasing its arrival on the market just as the metro begins to heat up for the spring. “I can’t sell hot coffee when it’s like 92 degrees,” said Thompson, recalling an experience during a Black Drip…
GOP lawmaker from Missouri takes over chair of Small Business Caucus in DC
Entrepreneurship and small businesses are the lifeblood of America, said Mark Alford, pledging to use his new leadership role within the Small Business Caucus to help fellow congressmen workshop and pursue policies that will “ensure the safety and prosperity of Main Street America.” U.S. Rep. Alford, R-Missouri, publicly took over the co-chair role of the…