WalletHub ranks business-friendly Ohio cities

Which places in the Buckeye State are best for starting a small business? That was the question behind a pair of studies from WalletHub that looked at the small and large cities that were most supportive of small business ventures. Both of these have some relevance for Ohio, considering the multiple cities that made it onto each list.

On the “large cities” side, the study featured five Ohio areas, with Columbus placing highest out of all of them at 88 on a list of 150. This was based on the city’s overall score when judged on several different metrics, including the amount of startups per capita and affordability of office space.

It’s worth noting that the study also gave each city a score based on three separate categories: “Access to Resources,” “Business Cost” and “Business Environment.” Of these, Columbus did best in the “Access to Resources” segment, placing at 40. Among all categories, the highest rank any Ohio city achieved belonged to Toledo, which placed at 35 points for “Business Costs.”

The “small cities” study had some slightly different results. This list had approximately 1,261 entries, with more than 50 cities from Ohio. The highest-placing of these was Lima at the 204th spot overall, and of the three subsequent categories it ranked best for “Business Environment.”

There were some other notable achievements for Ohio cities. Baberton, for example, was on the list of the top five cities for cheapest office space, second only to Kentwood, Michigan, while Youngstown was among the cities honored for having the lowest cost of labor. Both cases showed possible competitive advantages that might appeal to entrepreneurs in the state, provided they can access the right commercial lending.

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