This SC city is the most business savvy, a new report says. How does it match other US cities?

Patrick McCreless
Sharon McCutcheon via Unsplash

Charleston is the most ambitious, business-savvy city in South Carolina, a new report shows.

The report identified business-savvy cities across the U.S. and rated them on the ambitiousness of their populations. Business experts at go.Verizon.com, an authorized partner of the national telecommunications company Verizon, compiled the report.

While Charleston came out as the most ambitious in South Carolina, in ranked 20th among the most ambitious cities in each state. Burbank, CA. garnered the number 1 ranking, while Providence, RI was ranked at the bottom of the report.

To determine the most ambitious, business-savvy cities in the U.S., the report examined different factors in cities with populations of 100,000 people or more, then weighted each one using several variables.

Those variables included mean income, unemployment rate, the number of people with bachelor degrees or higher, the number of business applications in the past year and the percent of the population that started a new business in 2021. Data was pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report also found that among the top cities, the average rate of entrepreneurship is 38%, an increase from 36% last year.

Here is a list of the most ambitious, business-savvy city in 46 states and the District of Columbia, according to the report. Delaware, Maine, West Virginia, and Wyoming were not included in the ranking.

  1. Burbank, CA

  2. Davie. FL

  3. Sandy Springs, GA

  4. The Woodlands, TX

  5. Highlands Ranch, CO

  6. Scottsdale, AZ

  7. Cary, NC

  8. Cambridge, MA

  9. Naperville, IL

  10. Arlington, VA

  11. Seattle, WA

  12. Ann Arbor, MI

  13. Broken Arrow, OK

  14. Las Cruces, NM

  15. Columbia, MD

  16. Stamford, CT

  17. Overland Park, KS

  18. Anchorage, AK

  19. Columbia, MO

  20. Charleston, SC

  21. Portland, OR

  22. New York, NY

  23. Metairie, LA

  24. Honolulu, HI

  25. Meridian, ID

  26. Little Rock, AR

  27. Nashville, TN

  28. Billings, MT

  29. Enterprise, NV

  30. Jersey City, NJ

  31. Washington, DC

  32. Madison, WI

  33. Salt Lake City, UT

  34. Lexington, KY

  35. Fargo, ND

  36. Lincoln, NE

  37. Huntsville, AL

  38. Rochester, MN

  39. Manchester, NH

  40. Sioux Falls, SD

  41. Columbus, OH

  42. Jackson, MS

  43. Cedar Rapids, IA

  44. Pittsburgh, PA

  45. Indianapolis, IN

  46. Providence, RI

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