Lendio ranks states on nine metrics affecting small businesses
Tennessee places #30 on the list while neighboring states North and South Carolina and Georgia are in the top 10.
Lendio, a small business lender, has ranked the states based on trends in nine metrics that are critical to the success of small business owners in 2023’s rapidly changing and uncertain landscape. These metrics included small business lending, cost of living, real estate data, educated worker migration, corporate tax rates, and state-level incentives for business owners.
How did Tennessee rank? Not so good is the answer for the state touted for its friendliness to businesses. It placed #30. Topping the list was Texas followed by Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. The balance of the top 10 states was, in order, Colorado, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia, and Utah.
According to the analysis, the states that rank highest are those that experienced large influxes of migration with a reasonable cost of living. The availability of business funding, venture capital, and local incentive programs were also important factors that impacted the rankings.
Texas consistently performed in the top tier for business owners, earning it #1 spots for its top small business loan dollars, mass migrations of educated workers and consumers, and reasonable housing costs. Meanwhile, California, the District of Columbia, New Hampshire, and Hawaii ranked last, in part because of their high costs of living and housing, fewer incentive programs for businesses, and fewer workers with bachelor’s degrees than in many other states.
More information about the study can be found here.
