The Best States for Small Businesses, Ranked

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the United States is home to 33.2 million small businesses. Combined, these make up 99.9% of all U.S. businesses! Here is an even more surprising fact; small businesses were responsible for 63% of all new jobs created between 1995 to 2021. We might imagine that big companies are churning out the jobs, but in reality, America is built on small companies striving to succeed! So what does it take for a small business to thrive in the United States? Many factors play a role, but as with many money matters, location is key. The team at Finfare has created this incredible index to highlight the best and worst states to start a small business. Check it out:

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We love indexes like this! They combine multiple relevant data sets to create a bigger, more insightful picture. This index includes factors such as corporate tax rate, state unemployment tax, LLC fees, average monthly commercial electric bills, minimum wage, commercial spaces for lease, and business survival rates within one year AND five years. All together, these facets create a more trustworthy outlook on the best places for small businesses. If there is a specific factor you want to know more about, there are top five lists below the main chart. I was impressed and surprised that California has a one year business survival rate of 86.8%! I figured that there would be plenty of cutthroat competition there. It drops down to 55.7% after five years, but that is still the third highest!