WalletHub names Bradenton 25th best small city in the country to start a business
BRADENTON -- Bradenton scored 25th best in the country for best small cities in which to start a new business, according to personal finance website WalletHub.
The website's study is an in-depth analysis comparing 1,268 cities across 15 key metrics, according to WalletHub Communications Manager Diana Popa.
"Our data set ranges from average growth in number of small businesses and prevalence of investors to office-space affordability and corporate taxes," Popa said.
In a scoring system that rated 1 as the best and 634 as the least, Bradenton's scores were:
273rd in office-space affordability.
271st in median annual income.
47th in number of startups per capita.
550th in average revenue per business
110th in average growth of business revenues.
89th in prevalence of investors.
494th in cost of living.
"This is really exciting news," said Mayor Wayne Poston. "It's exciting because that means job creation and economic development, which are things we have been working really hard on. It takes a long time. When I first came in, our previous mayor said Bradenton
should be the financial district of the county and roll up its sidewalks at 5 p.m. I've had a different vision and this is really good news for job creation, economic development, lifestyle and hopefully our affordable housing goals will continue forward and things are going to get even better."
Sarasota finished 46th. Holland, Mich., was the No. 1 city named by the website. Only two Florida cities, both on the east coast, finished higher than Bradenton: Deerfield Beach at 10th and Riviera Beach at 18th. The next highest scoring Florida small city was Dania Beach at 35th, according to WalleHub data.
Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter @urbanmark2014.
This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 9:23 PM with the headline "WalletHub names Bradenton 25th best small city in the country to start a business ."