A new study shows Florida leads the nation when it comes to hosting small businesses.
Business consulting firm Venture Smarter looked at information from the Office of Advocacy and the U.S. Census data to find which states lead the nation when it comes to small businesses per capita.
“To reveal the states with the highest number of small businesses, the data was determined against each state’s population to reveal the number of small businesses for every 100,000 people in each state,” Venture Smarter noted.
Florida led the nation, followed by Wyoming, Vermont, Colorado, New York, Montana, Maine, California, Georgia and Texas.
“The research revealed that Florida has the highest percentage of small businesses in the country, with 13,370 small businesses per 100,000 residents. In total, there are 2,979,054 registered businesses in Florida, with 2,974,046 being small businesses. Florida is a huge tourist hotspot, being home to both Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, which can explain the substantial number of small businesses as there is a likelihood for substantial amounts of foot traffic,” Venture Smarter found.
At the bottom of the list stood West Virginia followed by New Mexico, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Alabama, Washington, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.
A spokesperson for Venture Smarter weighed in on the study.
“Across the country, there are a total of 33,187,742 small businesses, with this number expected to rise as more people turn their passions into businesses that can provide more flexibility and satisfaction than other jobs,” the spokesperson said. “Small businesses have a hugely positive impact on the economy, especially for the state they reside in. They are essential for small communities to thrive, providing job opportunities and diversifying and innovating the community. Additionally, they can bring in more foot traffic to states by providing new experiences for everyone.”
