DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA:

When considering whether or not to start a small business, there are several factors to keep in mind while determining where you would start your business, including:

• Taxes – This includes corporate, sales, property tax, individual income, and unemployment insurance tax rates. The ranking demonstrates how much you can expect that your business would have to pay in taxes in the state ranked.
• Labor Market – This category was assessed by including unemployment rates well as education levels (% of adults ages 25 to 34 who have attained at least a bachelor’s degree). This is meant to measure availability of desirable employees and the overall strength of this market in the state ranked.
• Cost of Living – This includes costs of utilities, grocery, healthcare, housing, and transportation.
• Quality of Life – This category is based on access to education, physical safety, and healthcare.
• Cost to Start a Business – Using per capita income in the state ranked, this is meant to evaluate costs to staff your business as well as the per sq. ft/year cost to rent a commercial building.
• Startup Activity – Meant to illustrate how likely new businesses are to succeed or fail in the state ranked, this represents the # and survivability of new businesses in that state.
• Access to Capital – This assesses the likelihood of your business attaining startup capital by evaluating the size and # of small business loans granted and by measuring access to capital based on the availability and amount of venture capital funds.

Washington D.C. has become a hub for startups focused on technology and policy, with an ever-evolving entrepreneurial spirit and its proximity to Capitol Hill. Particularly, startups focusing on education technology, cyber-security, and fin-tech are thriving in this diverse and inclusive community. There is an encouraging spirit across industries, which some D.C. entrepreneurs have credited towards the growth of their businesses. D.C. also, with a third of area business being women-owned, is a great place to be a female entrepreneur of any color. D.C. for all of these reasons, not to mention a highly educated talent pool, an abundance of capital, booming healthcare and tourism industries, and more high-growth companies than nearly any other U.S. city, should give you pause to stop and reconsider it as a place to start and grow your own business!