The Best Small City To Start A Business Right Now In Wisconsin

Experts believe that opening a business in a small city can offer several strategic advantages, ranging from financial savings to deeper community integration.

Financial and operational advantages can include lower overhead costs, reduced labor costs, and government incentives, with many local governments in smaller cities actively recruiting new businesses by offering subsidized rent, tax breaks, grants, and low-interest loans to foster economic growth.

Recently, a national study was done to find the best small cities to start a news business in America, and, unlike Minnesota, where no small city cracked the Top 300, Wisconsin had a better story to tell, with two cities landing inside the Top 200.

Finding The Best Small Cities To Start A Business

To determine the best and worst small cities in America for new businesses, the study compared 1,334 cities across three key dimensions:

1. Business Environment
2. Access to Resources
3. Business Costs

For its sample, cities with populations of between 25,000 and 100,000 residents were chosen. Also, "City" refers to the city proper and excludes the surrounding metro area.

Each of the three key dimensions was evaluated using 18 relevant metrics, such as average growth in the number of small businesses, average revenue per business, labor costs, job growth, and more.

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Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for launching a business. Then, each city's weighted average was determined across all metrics to calculate its overall score and rank.

For context, the best small city to open a business in the entire country right now is St. George, Utah, with a total score of 64.62. The worst is Pacifica, California, at 30.18.

Two Wisconsin cities performed well enough to land inside the top 200 of all 1,334 cities analyzed.

La Crosse, Wisconsin - #198 Overall

Coming in at number 198 overall, La Crosse is the second-best small city in Wisconsin for starting a business, and the fact that it cracked the top 200 out of 1,334 cities says a lot about its business climate.

Situated along the Mississippi River in western Wisconsin, La Crosse is a city with a population of around 50,000, with an economy that is anchored by education and healthcare, with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Gundersen Health System serving as two of its largest employers and providing a steady base of economic activity.

That combination of a major university and a regional health system creates the kind of consistent demand for goods and services that makes life easier for small business owners.

La Crosse is also known for its commitment to sustainability and outdoor recreation, with a lively arts and music scene that draws visitors and contributes to the local economy year-round. For entrepreneurs who want a river town with real infrastructure and a built-in customer base, La Crosse is worth a close look.

The Best Small City To Start A Business In Wisconsin: Fitchburg - #132 Overall

The best small city in Wisconsin to start a business, according to this study, is Fitchburg, coming in at number 132 out of 1,334 cities nationwide. That's a strong result, and it reflects a city that has quietly built one of the more business-friendly environments in the state.

Located just five miles south of downtown Madison, Fitchburg is a suburb of roughly 32,000 residents that offers an unusual blend of suburban convenience, access to Madison's workforce and university ecosystem, and a surprising amount of open farmland and green space.

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The city's knowledge-based economy is centered on innovation, with a strong base in information technology, bio and nano technologies, medical instrumentation, and agriculture.

Fitchburg's story is also an interesting one. When the city of Madison began encroaching on the town through annexation in the 1960s and 1970s, Fitchburg residents fought back, and the incorporation ultimately went all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which ruled 4-3 in Fitchburg's favor.

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The city was officially incorporated on April 26, 1983, making it the only city in Wisconsin created by a 4-3 Supreme Court decision. That independent streak seems to have stuck, with Fitchburg consistently investing in sustainable development and becoming the fourth city in Wisconsin to commit to 100% renewable energy by 2030.

For entrepreneurs, Fitchburg offers proximity to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its talent pipeline, a supportive local government with an active economic development strategy, and a cost of doing business that is significantly lower than Madison proper. All of that adds up to a number 132 ranking and the top spot in Wisconsin.