LendingTree ranks Memphis tops in the country for new business applications
Just like in the recent collegiate football championship, states with teams in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) did very well in a new study from LendingTree focused on new business applications.
The study came on the heels of reports that the number of Americans filing paperwork to start businesses hit a record 5.4 million in 2021, up from the previous record of 4.4 million new business applications set in 2020.
Memphis – Tennessee’s western most city – is not home to an SEC school although the Volunteer State is home to two, but the Bluff City took first place among 100 ranked cities nationally, recording a nearly 78 percent increase in new business applications between 2019 and 2020.
Only one of the other cities in the top 10 was not in the South. Two states – Georgia and Louisiana – had three cities each in the top 10. LendingTree’s rankings are as follows:
- #2 – Mobile, AL;
- #3 – Shreveport, LA;
- #4 – Baton Rouge, LA;
- #5 – Augusta, GA;
- #6 – Atlanta, GA;
- #7 – New Orleans, LA;
- #8 – Cleveland, OH;
- #9 – Savannah, GA; and
- #10 – Jackson, MS.
So, where did the other Tennessee cities rank? We could not find Chattanooga on the LendingTree map, but Nashville came in at #64 and Knoxville at #67.
To continue the SEC theme, two South Carolina cities – Columbia and Charleston – ranked #16 and #22 respectively, Lakeland, FL came in at #17, Houston was #20, and Little Rock, AR was #23.
