Austin ranks
No. 1 in an annual index of the top-performing metropolitan areas for entrepreneurial activity nationwide, according to the Kauffman Index of Startup Activity.
Among the other metropolitan areas in the top 10 are Miami (No. 2), San Francisco (No. 4), Houston (No. 7) and San Jose (No. 8). Austin also ranked No. 1 last year in the index, which is released annually by the Ewan Marion Kauffman Foundation.
The foundation looks at early indicators of entrepreneurial activity in the United States, such as new business creation, market opportunity and startup density, to determine its rankings.
According to the index, Austin-area entrepreneurs started businesses at a rate of 600 for every 100,000 adult residents, or 0.60 percent. The closest metropolitan area in this indicator was Los Angeles, which had a rate of new entrepreneurs of 510 for every 100,000 adult residents, or 0.51 percent.
In the startup density factor, Austin ranked No. 4 with a rate of 105.2, or 105 startups for every 1,000 firms in the metro. Austin sat behind Las Vegas, Miami and Orlando in this indicator, respectively. The Houston and Dallas areas were not far behind with startup densities of 94.2 and 93.7, respectively.
Austin ranked 17th in opportunity share of new entrepreneurs, which measures the percentage of entrepreneurs who started businesses because they saw market opportunities—not because they were coming out of unemployment. In Austin, for every five entrepreneurs starting businesses about four met this criteria, or 79.88 percent.
Take a look at the index rankings here:
