Arizona lands in WalletHub’s top ten states to start a business

Arizona has always been well-known as an industrious state. From citrus to cattle, copper to cotton, we’ve always had notoriety as a place to dig your hands into the ground and make something of and for yourself. Now, industry has changed and Arizona has attracted established companies and inspired new ones in the emergence of what is known as the Silicon Desert.

This level of opportunity for entrepreneurship and industry has attracted more than just bright young minds and savvy business people eager to plant their own flag in Arizona; it’s also garnered a healthy level of attention from trend watchers like WalletHub, which plugged State 48 into the top 10 states in the Union to start a business from scratch.

In a recent multi-point survey, WalletHub looked at 25 indicators when it comes to starting and running a business in all 50 states. They ranked states based on business environment, access to resources, and business costs. The metrics were graded on a 100-point scale, then WalletHub weighted the averages. Last on the list? Hawaii. Top of the list? Texas. And Arizona landed at number nine, just ahead of Colorado.

“One of the factors playing a role in making Arizona a desirable place to start a business is the 2.52 percent annual job growth, the second highest in the country,” says Jill Gonzalez of WalletHub. “Another thing the state has is 62.81 percent cluster strength, which translates to a very high degree of employment specialization in the region.”

Arizona has seen a five percent growth in the number of small businesses that have set up shop in the last year alone. Compare this to a typical one-to-two percent increase in a year and it’s no wonder Arizona turned heads of industry experts. And besides just opening doors and connecting the Wifi to hit that number, Arizona has the fifth-highest share of engaged workers– workers who actually enjoy coming to work every day–at 35 percent.

Arizona also got top marks for human capital availability. This metric looks at how many people are in the workforce compared to jobs that are actually available. We landed at number 15 on the list, a solid mark.

According to WalletHub Arizona has room for improvement in the areas of accessible financing and affordable commercial office space. “These two are probably some of the reasons why businesses in Arizona experience a slow growth in average revenues, and why only almost half of the businesses manage to survive longer than five years,” adds Gonzalez.

The WalletHub rankings reveal the broad range of factors that contribute to a healthy and welcoming business environment. Moves like doubling the top personal income tax rates–as Arizonans will have the opportunity to vote on this fall–have the potential to negatively impact Arizona’s rankings on surveys.