Move over, Silicon Valley. America has a new startup capital, according to a non-profit organization that studies startup trends throughout the U.S. So which city is currently home to the most startup activity in the U.S.?
That honor goes to Austin, Texas. The rankings were compiled as part of the Kauffman Index, an in-depth measure of startup activity issued each year by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
Silicon Valley, which was #1 last year, fell all the way to #3 in the 2015 rankings. Miami now finds itself in the #2 spot in the Kauffman Index:
The rate of new entrepreneurs, one of the components of the Kauffman Index, varied widely across metropolitan areas, from 0.55 percent to 0.13 percent. Austin, Texas, came out on top, at 0.55 percent rate of new entrepreneurs, or 550 new entrepreneurs per month on average, followed by Miami at 0.52 percent and San Jose, Calif., at 0.41 percent.
The Kauffman Index also measures and ranks entrepreneurial activity by state. In the 2015 Kauffman study released this morning, Western states came out on top, with Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota rounding out the top three, respectively. Of the top 10 states with the most startup activity, eight are located in the West or Midwest. Vermont and Florida were the only Eastern states to crack the top 10.
You can view the full results at KauffmanIndex.org.
Not surprised. Austin, TX may be very liberal, but note nobody in that city wants the state to impose an income tax, hence the reason for a lot of startup companies located there. Parts of Austin are very liberal, particularly around the university and Capitol.
You don't have to go far outside the central core of Austin, or into the surrounding suburbs, to run into some of the most conservative parts of the state. A lot of the start-up activity is occurring there.
An example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamson_County,_Texas#Presidential_election_results
Williamson County was traditionally a very solidly Democratic county. For example, in 1976 voters in Williamson County voted for President Jimmy Carter by a higher percentage (55%) than did voters in Travis County (52%). Since the early 1980s however the county has become increasingly Republican, to where by 2004 President George W. Bush won 68% of the vote in Williamson County while garnering only 42% in neighboring Travis County. John McCain received 55% of the vote to Barack Obama's 42% in the 2008 election. In 2012 Republican Mitt Romney defeated President Obama by a total of 59% to 38%.
Also of note is that election turnout reflects the tremendous growth of Williamson County as the 1960 total votes cast were only 3,650 while in 2012 over 163,000 votes were cast.
Also of note is that election turnout reflects the tremendous growth of Williamson County as the 1960 total votes cast were only 3,650 while in 2012 over 163,000 votes were cast.
...moved to this fastest growing county in ‘09 from liberal So CA and loving small town TX where we pray around the flag pole and the VFW celebrates Memorial Day with the local scouts. Half the offices don’t even get Dem opposition in elections.
ymmv
Parts of Austin are very liberal, particularly around the university and Capitol. From what I've seen, downtown Austin has more degenerates than Berkeley, and that's saying something. I've been in Austin often, and young women with multicolored hair and rings in their noses are pushing abortion pamphlets in your face. Stores full of degenerates. And forget about getting a bag for your purchases, no plastic bags. California Bay Area is looking normal compared to Austin.