Dallas finished 14th and Fort Worth ninth on a ranking of the best large U.S. cities to start a business, according to the financial services website WalletHub.

Laredo finished first on the list of best cities for business startups – one of nine Texas cities to make the top-50 list. Lubbock earned the No. 3 spot in the ranking.

WalletHub reported that the COVID-19 pandemic represents one of the toughest times for American business owners. About 61 million small-business entrepreneurs now regret opening their firms, a recent WalletHub survey showed.

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An increase in the coronavirus vaccination rate and reopening efforts in Texas and elsewhere, however, are leading to new opportunities for entrepreneurs, the study found. WalletHub rated cities on the list using a 100-point scale and assigned ranks in the following categories: business environment, access to resources and overall business costs.

In total, 21 metrics, including five-year business-survival rates and office-space costs, were used in the analysis.

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Top 50 Cities to Start a Business in 2021

Overall Rank City Total Score Business Environment Access to Resources Business Costs
1 Laredo, TX 64.97 13 10 43
2 Durham, NC 63.95 31 14 18
3 Lubbock, TX 63.79 25 5 55
4 Orlando, FL 63.58 24 27 16
5 Boise, ID 63.37 3 66 45
6 Charlotte, NC 62.63 17 43 29
7 Raleigh, NC 62.59 38 11 32
8 Austin, TX 62.45 2 9 83
9 Fort Worth, TX 62.1 4 19 71
10 Tampa, FL 61.78 44 23 19
11 Atlanta, GA 61.74 32 26 30
12 St. Petersburg, FL 61.19 39 53 17
13 Reno, NV 60.8 16 44 54
14 Dallas, TX 60.78 5 42 70
15 Winston-Salem, NC 60.65 41 80 1
16 Colorado Springs, CO 60.64 51 28 24
17 Jacksonville, FL 60.63 26 79 9
18 Kansas City, MO 60.34 46 63 10
19 Nashville, TN 60.28 23 39 51
20 Irvine, CA 59.45 6 1 97
21 Denver, CO 59.15 43 17 58
22 Irving, TX 59.03 9 41 77
23 Arlington, TX 58.94 20 46 68
24 Miami, FL 58.74 52 34 31
25 Phoenix, AZ 58.43 29 68 44
26 Long Beach, CA 58.33 14 32 82
27 Fresno, CA 58.29 47 56 35
28 New Orleans, LA 58.15 54 22 41
29 Honolulu, HI 58.09 60 2 76
30 Oakland, CA 58.02 8 7 92
31 Madison, WI 57.97 67 4 57
32 Stockton, CA 57.88 57 21 48
33 Scottsdale, AZ 57.84 7 60 80
34 Indianapolis, IN 57.83 56 73 8
35 Los Angeles, CA 57.75 15 29 85
36 Aurora, CO 57.57 33 84 36
37 Lincoln, NE 57.52 66 13 38
38 Houston, TX 56.75 42 54 62
39 San Diego, CA 56.66 12 31 89
40 Wichita, KS 56.31 73 25 27
41 Mesa, AZ 56.22 35 93 37
42 San Francisco, CA 56.1 1 6 100
43 Las Vegas, NV 56.03 55 59 42
44 Greensboro, NC 55.97 78 64 4
45 San Antonio, TX 55.96 48 52 65
46 Fort Wayne, IN 55.86 76 67 5
47 Omaha, NE 55.84 71 16 46
48 Birmingham, AL 55.82 72 65 14
49 Sacramento, CA 55.79 36 71 66
50 Boston, MA 55.71 63 3 86

Source: WalletHub.com