According to the personal finance site NerdWallet, Minneapolis is the
fourth-best U.S. city for young entrepreneurs. To determine the ranking NerdWallet examined cities across the country, and measured such factors as access to funding (“the dollar value of commercial and industrial, or C&I, loans under $250,000 lent per capita in 2013 by banks with less than $10 billion in total assets) and opportunities for networking and mentorship.
“For those just starting a business, the right environment—surrounded by successful business leaders—is key, so we included the number of businesses for 100 residents in a city’s metro area,”
Sreekar Jasthi wrote in the report. “To assess the availability of peers for networking, we included the percentage of residents in each city age 25 to 34 as well as the percentage of the population over 25 with at least a bachelor’s degree.” NerdWallet also looked at the local economies of each city, and cost-of-living or affordability.
About Minneapolis Jasthi wrote that the city “has a large population of residents age 25 to 34, who live in the Twin Cities’ business friendly environment—a place with a high number of businesses per 100 people, and a low unemployment rate. Minneapolis also ranked highly on NerdWallet’s list of the
best cities for female entrepreneurs, with organizations such as Women Entrepreneurs of Minnesota offering a wealth of resources.”