Phoenix Not a Horrible Place for Small Business, According to Analysis

Phoenix, and Arizona in general, may always seem to be on the crappier side of rankings (see: high suicide rates, low levels of freedom) but we've found a good one -- according to one analysis, Phoenix is one of the top 10 big cities in the country for small business.Well,...

By Matthew Hendley

August 26, 2013

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Phoenix, and Arizona in general, may always seem to be on the crappier side of rankings (see: high suicide rates, low levels of freedom) but we've found a good one -- according to one analysis, Phoenix is one of the top 10 big cities in the country for small business.

Well, it's not that good -- Phoenix is exactly 10th.

Combining factors from a few studies, the finance website Nerd Wallet ranked the big cities, mostly based on taxes for small businesses.

As you can imagine, Texas' four biggest cities occupied four of the top five spots. And, you can probably figure that New York and San Francisco didn't do so well on the taxes scale.

Assuming a rather small small business (with one $50k-a-year employee), Phoenix has the second-lowest payroll taxes and third-lowest income tax rates.

Phoenix also had the eighth-lowest property taxes, and the ninth-easiest licensing requirements.

So, it might not be the best place for a small business, but, hey, a lot of cities are crappier!

Check out the whole ranking and the related sources here.

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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.

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