Best Cities to Start a Business in Iowa

Time and again, Iowa is recognized as one of the most business-friendly states in the nation, owing to low tax rates and other costs associated with doing business. It’s a highly diversified economy, with no sector claiming over 22.9% of the state’s gross product. It provides ample opportunity for entrepreneurs in many fields and keeps the unemployment rate very low.

Considering Iowa’s reputation as an agricultural state, it’s no surprise that many of the tech startups located in the state focus on applications and technology focused on revolutionizing the industry, rendering farms more efficient, clean, and cost-effective.

Renewable energy is another rapidly growing sector in the state, and electric generation from wind turbines has increased exponentially in the past thirty years.

The state’s top universities, Iowa State and the University of Iowa are both home to massive business incubators, Iowa State University Research Park and the BioVentures Center, respectively, which host dozens of companies in the healthcare and technological fields, furthering the incentive for entrepreneurs to take advantage of the resources available in Iowa to help along a new business.

Only cities with over 50,000 inhabitants are reported in the results. Some data had to be interpolated to the county level and extrapolated to all the cities in the county. We concentrated on the following metrics to obtain our ranking: Cost of living, Best state for business, Unemployment, Kauffman index, and Universities.