Are you planning to start your own business? Or are you already in the process of starting a business? First off, congratulations! That's awesome! Secondly, good luck.

Seriously. It's not easy. But with a combination of good planning, excellent employees and/or co-workers, perseverance, and good luck, hopefully, it will all come together.

If you're not starting your own business right now, but you have dreams of doing so one day, you may want to consider making a move to another part of the country. Like Texas or Utah, for instance.

Would you believe me if I told you that, according to a highly knowledgeable source, Massachusetts has three of the WORST cities for small businesses in the nation including the SECOND-WORST city overall?

Recently, TheCreditReview took a look at 100 of the largest cities in the country and compared them across several key metrics including population change, gross domestic product, and more.

Their objective? To predict which cities across the U.S. are the best spots for small business owners in terms of rapid growth and prosperity. The findings don't bode well for the Bay State.

As far as small cities in Massachusetts go, there is not one in the top 20...Or the top 50. Massachusetts' tax climate makes things especially hard for small businesses, as I'm sure you're not surprised to hear.

Here are the Top 5 BEST Metros to Start a Small Business, according to TheCreditReview:

  1. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas
  2. Provo-Orem, Utah
  3. Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina
  4. Salt Lake City, Utah
  5. Boise City, Idaho

Here are the Top 5 WORST Metros to Start a Small Business:

  1. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
  2. Springfield, MA
  3. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
  4. El Paso, Texas
  5. Akron, Ohio

WOW! Springfield is almost the worst city in the country out of all the metros analyzed. Also, Worcester and the Providence-Warwick metro areas were ranked in the bottom 25.

Take a look at the full list and all the ranked cities and metro areas by visiting TheCreditReview's website here.

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