Best Cities to Start a Business in Montana

Montana, one of the most beautiful states in the United States, is also one of the best places in the country to start a business: the state ranked first in the nation for the rate of new entrepreneurs four years in a row.

Despite its status as the 7th least populous state in the nation, Montana’s high-tech economy is growing, as more and more graduates of its universities are choosing to live in the cities of Bozeman and Billings, where employment opportunities are getting better by the day. In 2016, the state’s 14,500 tech sector employees earned an average of around 60,000 a year, according to a survey taken by the University of Montana.

Also, employees are likely to stick around as Montana boasts a high retention rate. Reasons for this are clear: the state’s mountainous landscapes and hundreds of miles of trails provide ample opportunity for outdoor activity, whether it be hiking, kayaking, skiing, or cycling.

Promising a laidback lifestyle with plenty of avenues for outdoor recreation and a bustling tech scene for a state of its population, Montana is a top destination for prospective entrepreneurs.

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.