The Kauffman Foundation has just released new rankings showing how different states and metros stack up when it comes to growth entrepreneurship.
Among the top 40 metro areas included in the Kauffman Index of Growth Entrepreneurship, Kansas City was No. 24, the same as last year. Startup growth and scaleups both ticked up compared to a few years ago.
The top five metros were Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; San Jose, California; Columbus, Ohio; and Nashville.
(Cincinnati, while not in the top five, saw the biggest shift in its rankings, going from 35th to 16th.)
Missouri ranked 22nd among the largest 25 states, up one spot from last year’s rankings. Kansas—which was included in the listing of the smallest states—came in seventh, down one spot from the 2015 list.
Virginia experienced more entrepreneurship growth activity than any other large state, while Utah led among the smaller states.
Growth was highest in companies dealing in IT; advertising and marketing; business products and services; health; and software.
“The industry trends in the data suggest that high-tech is not a prerequisite for high growth,” said E.J. Reedy, Kauffman Foundation senior scholar and co-author of the organization’s Growth Index. “While tech industries continue to have a strong presence among high-growth companies, growth comes from a wide range of sectors, from food and beverage, to retail, to government services.”
