Small business owners ranks Idaho and Texas as the most business-friendly states, with Oklahoma City and Dallas-Ft. Worth taking top honors among cities across the nation, according to a new survey.
The survey of 6,000 small businesses by small business provider site Thumbtack.com, in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation, found small business owners ranking Vermont and Rhode Island at the bottom of the spectrum, joined by New York and California.
Idaho, Nevada and Delaware had the most small business-friendly tax codes, according to the survey, while California and New Mexico had the least-friendly tax codes.
Texas had three of the top five cities in the survey (Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin), while California was home to the bottom three (Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento).
Small businesses said licensing requirements were nearly twice as important as tax rates in rating the overall business-friendliness of their state or local government.
“Although Texas and Idaho clearly come out on top as the nation’s friendliest states towards small business, entrepreneurs value a lot more than just low tax rates,” said Thumbtack.com co-founder Sander Daniels in a statement. “Easy-to-understand licensing regulations and well-publicized training programs are often overlooked as critical tools necessary to support small business.”
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Among small business owners nationally, women were 9 percent more likely than men to feel supported by their state governments. An important predictor of small business friendliness was whether small business owners are aware of the state or local government offering training programs for small businesses.
Nebraska small business owners were the most optimistic about their business improving during 2012, while Iowans were the least optimistic. The South was the most small business-friendly region of the country, while New England was rated the least small business-friendly.
For the full results,
