When it comes to Greater Hartford, the best small city for doing business is Bristol. Statewide that distinction goes to Danbury.
The study by WalletHub.com, ahead of National Small Business Week, ranked the small cities based on business environment, access to resources, and business costs. Small cities are defined between 25,000 and 100,000 for the survey.
WalletHub’s analysts compared the business-friendliness of 1,268 small-sized cities to identify the best overall for launching an enterprise. Its data set of 15 key metrics ranges from “average growth in number of small businesses” and “prevalence of investors” to “office-space affordability” and “corporate taxes.”
Small cities by ranking, followed by their score:
- 339 – Danbury, 38.05
- 550 – Westport, 36.24
- 791 – Bristol, 34.43
- 804 – Torrington, 34.33
- 808 – East Hartford, 34.26
- 828 – Shelton, 34.07
- 857 – West Hartford, 33.77
- 929 – West Haven, 33.18
- 973 – Norwalk, 32.75
- 988 – Stratford, 32.53
- 998 – New Britain, CT 32.45
- 1010 – Middletown, 32.37
- 1016 – Wethersfield, 32.31
- 1036 – Newington, 32.08
- 1053 – Norwich, 31.91
- 1085 – Meriden, 31.57
- 1087 – East Haven, 31.56
- 1089 – Milford, 31.55
- 1126 – New London, 30.96
- 1197 – Manchester, 29.86
- 1214 – Trumbull, 29.57
- 1216 – Naugatuck, 29.55
The scoring was broken down according to: business environment, 50 points; access to resources, 25 points: and, business costs, 25 points.
