Youngest Entrepreneurs in the Nation? Hartford Ranks #5

Hartford’s relentless efforts in recent years to attract and retain a young entrepreneurial workforce appears to be making some headway.  A new analysis indicates that Connecticut’s capital city has among the youngest entrepreneurs in the nation, ranking 5th in the survey of major metropolitan areas. That’s a jump from ranking 48th when the survey was last done, in 2018.

The average age for founders of new business across the country is noq 39, according to the study by financial services company Lending Tree.  In Hartford, the average age is 38.15.

The youngest entrepreneurs, on average, can be found in New Orleans, where their average age is 37.04. Salt Lake City ranks second, at 37.17 years old; followed by Philadelphia at 37.90 years old; Milwaukee at No. 4, with 37.92.

In addition to Hartford, at #5, two other New England cities earned a slot in the top ten.  Providence was ranked No. 9 and Boston was No. 10.

In Hartford, nearly half of the people who have started their own businesses are millennials - 48.2% - which also placed the city in the top 10. Nearly 39% of Hartford’s entrepreneurs are in Gen X, the next largest cohort, followed by 7.3% Baby Boomers and 4.9% Gen Z. Generations, as defined by the Pew Research Center, are: members of the Silent Generation were born between 1928 and 1945; the Baby Boom generation between 1946 and 1964; Generation X between 1965 and 1980; the millennial generation between 1981 and 1996; and Generation Z after 1996.

Nationwide, millennials, who now comprise the largest generation in the U.S., were the most prevalent entrepreneurs in each city in the study.

The leading cities, according to Lending Tree, provide programs and resources for startups and have a range of industries in which companies can succeed.

Among the characteristics highlighted by Lending Tree as important to new entrepreneurs in determining where to locate their fledgling enterprises:  a growing local economy, business-friendly tax policies, low cost of living, strong startup network and availability of business funding.

Data used in the study consisted of anonymized data of borrowers seeking business loans on the LendingTree platform, which was analyzed to determine the average age of business founder in the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). The data was limited to businesses founded within the last five years, and founders’ ages are from the date they founded their businesses, according to Lending Tree.