Starting a New Business? Texas is the Best Place in the USA

Texas is the best state in the USA to start a new business today, according to a nationwide study by the financial site WalletHub, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.

WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez says Texas ranks high on all of the relevant metrics studied, from affordability to labor costs to the costs of office space.

"Because of that, we are seeing a great increase in the growth of small businesses in the past year, a high number of start-ups per capita, the business revenues are growing as well," she said.

Gonzalez says an increase in start-ups also shows a confidence in the near and medium term future of the state's economy, as people don't invest their time, effort, and money into starting new companies unless they fell that positive business conditions will continue to prevail.

"San Antonio and Austin, especially, have seen a huge growth in start ups per capita," she said.  "Not only start-ups but also a very strong five year business survival rate."

Gonzalez says one of the reasons the state ranks number one, is Texas has flipped the traditional pattern of young people going to high school here, then going out of state to college and then staying in other locations to begin their careers.  She says Texas just in the past decade has become a net gainer of college educated Millennials, with young people coming to the state for a college education, and then staying here.

"Texas sees a lot of that brain gain, not so much of the drain," she said.  "Texas has great college assets, and a very educated population."

She says that is also boosting the tech industries in San Antonio and Austin, most of which are start-ups.  She says one thing that is helping is, despite the rising cost of housing, Texas still has relatively low costs, especially compared to places like San Jose, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Other top states to start a new  business include Utah and Georgia, which are ranked number two and number three.  Interestingly, despite its high costs, California remains number eight. The worst states in the country to start a business--New Hampshire and Hawaii.

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