Miami Top 10 City For Business Startups: Commercial Cafe

MIAMI, FL — Miami ranked eighth in a new study of the best cities for business startups with populations under half a million.

The study, which was conducted by Commercial Cafe, noted the Magic City's high startup survival rate and slow wage growth.

"We estimated that in 2018, 69 percent of new firms with up to four employees remained active past their first year," the study said. "According to the most recent BLS data, wages for computer, mathematical, architecture and engineering occupations in Miami increased an average $575 in five years, marking the slowest wage growth in this group."

Moreover, Miami's score also reflects an 11.4 percent increase in the number of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher in science and engineering, which boosted Miami to second place for overall tech education growth.

"Each year, startups create most of the new jobs in the country, having a direct impact on the economies of the cities they choose as their homes," editors penned. "In our latest study, we ranked the 10 best startup cities for three population brackets — below 500,000 500,000-1 million, and over 1 million. We scored each city based on 13 metrics relevant to cost of living, cost and resources of starting a business, tech skilled labor availability, and more.

Miami ranked:

• First for startup survival rate – 69 percent of startups with up to four employees were active past their first year, in 2018.
• Second for tech ed growth — the number of residents 25 and over holding a bachelor’s degree or higher in science and engineering increased by 11.4 percent.
• Fourth for non-employer growth —2.6 percent growth in the number of one-person tech businesses.

Atlanta ranked first in the study for cities in the same population group followed by Kansas City and Minneapolis.