A report from online business platform site Coworking Café found that Miami and several other Florida cities rank at the top of the most popular regions to start a new business.
Small businesses are classified as those with fewer than 500 employees.
The report assessed which regions are best suited for a strong domestic business environment.
Miami, Florida Miami is a great metropolitan area for small businesses, offering an entrepreneurship-friendly environment that has benefited from rapid economic growth post-pandemic.
The South Florida metro has the most business formation of any large metro, with more than 4,000 businesses per 100,000 residents, more than three times the national average. Miami also has the highest business density of any metro area in its class, with more than 23,000 businesses per 100,000 residents.
With such a strong business environment, Miami’s economy is dominated by community ventures, which account for more than half of the jobs (the highest percentage of any metropolitan area) and have a whopping 89% survival rate. Additionally, Miami also has the highest self-employment rate among metropolitan areas at 15.7%.
Other top Florida cities with national ratings were Sarasota;
This town has one of the highest concentrations of local business activity anywhere in the country. There are approximately 13,400 self-employed enterprises per 100,000 inhabitants, accounting for nearly 60% of total employment and the highest share in this ranking.
Additionally, self-employed people accounted for 15.6%, indicating that the workforce is highly oriented toward independent and entrepreneurial work. GDP also grew by 42.6% from 2019 to 2023, the highest growth rate in the group.
Otherwise, the unemployment rate remains at 2.6% and the number of new business applications exceeds 2,100 per 100,000 per year.
Cape Coral – Fort Myers, Florida
Cape Coral-Fort Myers rounds out the Small Entrepreneurs ranking with a high GDP growth rate of 45%, a clear sign that this corner of Southwest Florida has undergone a true economic transformation since 2019. In this case, the metro’s rapid population growth has led to a proportionate surge in business activity, with approximately 13,700 people running local business ventures per 100,000 residents, accounting for 56% of total employment. The number of new business applications is also impressive, running at a rate of 2,300 per 100,000 per year.
Lee County is seeing good results. Mr Lee sees a 14% increase in self-employment in the construction, light industry and professional services sectors, according to the report.
Port St. Lucie – Supported by rapid population growth, we are expanding our community-based business operations.
