Massachusetts was ranked the fourth-best state in the country to start a small business by Lendio. The lender highlighted the state’s high number of small business incentives.
Texas, Florida, Ohio and Massachusetts were ranked No. 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively, due to their low taxes, mass migration of educated workers, sufficient business funding and the fact that more than half of all startups had survived at least five years in each state, which was above average.
“It’s no wonder tech-savvy Massachusetts gets the most amount of venture capital disbursed per $1 million of GDP, ranking No 1 in the U.S.,” the report said. “The state offers 74 different incentives for business owners. Massachusetts businesses are also more likely to survive beyond five years than in many other states. On the flip side, it has one of the highest median housing values in the U.S., and it is seeing more people leaving (57,000)—rather than moving to—the Bay State.”
The bottom states, Hawaii, Maine and New Hampshire, were cited for their low business funding and venture capital availability, limited local incentive programs, high tax rates and high costs of living.
Lendio considered nine metrics in developing its ranking, including small business lending, the five-year startup survival rate, cost of living, real estate data, educated worker migration, corporate tax rates, state-level incentives for business owners, personal consumption expenditures and venture capital disbursed.
The top 10 states in the ranking are:
- Texas.
- Florida.
- Ohio.
- Massachusetts.
- North Carolina.
- Colorado.
- Oklahoma.
- South Carolina.
- Georgia.
- Utah.