Area ranks highly in study of best cities to start a business in

The Tampa Bay region has proven it's a fantastic place to which to move a business. Now a new survey, from WalletHub.com, reveals it’s also one of the best metro areas in the country in which to start a business.

Tampa, the survey shows, ranks No. 5 and St. Petersburg No. 14 among large U.S. cities for a new business launch. The report, according to a statement, is based on 19 criteria across three categories: business environment, access to resources and business costs.

Florida actually dominates the top tier of the 100 cities evaluated, with Orlando taking the top spot, Miami No. 3 and Jacksonville No. 12. Hialeah is No. 24.

Tampa performed best in the business costs category, which looked at metrics such as office space affordability, labor costs, corporate taxes and cost of living. St. Petersburg scored even better in that category.

The Tampa Bay cities also received high marks in the business environment category. Startups per capita, length of average work week, average growth in number of small businesses, five-year business survival rate, industry variety and job growth were some of measuring sticks used to assess the quality, or lack thereof, of a city’s business environment.

The full results and methodology can be viewed at https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-to-start-a-business/2281/