Nine CT Communities Among Nation’s 500 Best to Start Small Business

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Nine Connecticut communities are among the best in the nation for starting a small business, according to student loan company LendEdu, which has produced a list of the 500 Best Cities to Start a Small Business in the U.S. Storrs/Mansfield topped the list in Connecticut at 89. Also making the list were Stamford (178), Farmington (214), Windsor (247), Hamden (285), Oxford (387), Westport (477), Cromwell (486) and New Fairfield (493).

LendEdu, founded in 2014, describes itself as a marketplace for private student loans, student loan refinancing, credit cards and personal loans.

The top 10 included three cities in North Dakota, four from Virginia, and cities in Maryland, Colorado and Alabama.  The highest ranked New England community – Canton, MA – was number 49. Storrs-Mansfield was the leading community in Connecticut.

Cities were ranked based on the following criteria:

  • Population Score (20 points maximum) – including the daytime population score - the difference in the normal population and the population that is present during standard working day hours – and the population growth score - forecasted population growth over the next five years.
  • ​Income Score (40 points maximum) – consisting of the average disposable income available to residents and forecasted income growth over the next five years.
  • Expense Score (40 points maximum) – which includes consideration of property tax rates, sales tax rates, average cost of utilities, rate of burglaries and property crimes compared to the national averages.

On the population score rankings alone, New Fairfield had the eighth best score in the nation.  On the income score scale, Hamden ranked 29th, highest among the Connecticut communities.  On the Expense scale, Stamford, just outside the top 50, was tops in Connecticut.