NEW YORK, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The 2025 Biz2Credit Top Cities for Small Business Study has identified Worcester, MA, as the top city for small businesses in its annual financial analysis. According to Biz2Credit’s analysis, the other cities in the top five are: Ventura, CA, Stamford, CT, Portland, OR, and San Jose, CA.
The study examined financial indicators, including annual revenue, credit score, age of business, and the proprietary BizAnalyzer® scores of businesses that applied for funding with Biz2Credit during 2024. The analysis found that small businesses’ average revenue increased while credit scores dipped slightly.
Key Findings:
- The top 25 study saw moderate changes compared to 2024, with the most notable being California’s tech-heavy bay area losing its top two spots.
- The leading industries among the top cities are retail trade, construction, healthcare & social assistance, and accommodation and food services.
- Average credit scores decreased by 5 points, from 652 to 647.
- Seven cities are new to the list this year: Worcester, MA (1), Buffalo, NY (11), Fresno, CA (15), Richmond, VA (17), Myrtle Beach, SC (23), New Haven, CT (24), Indianapolis, IN (25)
- Eight cities fell off the 2024 list: Pittsburgh, PA, Sacramento, CA, Minneapolis, MN, Port St. Lucie, FL, Philadelphia, PA, Hartford, CT, Riverside, CA, and Phoenix, AZ all fell outside the top 25 from last year’s list. This is the same number that fell off in Biz2Credit’s 2024 study.
The Top 25 Cities for Small Business for this year (with 2024 ranking in parenthesis) are:
- Worcester, MA (unranked)
- Ventura/Oxnard, CA (13)
- Greater Bridgeport, CT (5)
- Portland, OR (7)
- San Jose, CA (1)
- Seattle, WA (4)
- Salt Lake City, UT (11)
- Colorado Springs, CO (3)
- Nashville, TN (22)
- Denver, CO (15)
- Buffalo, NY (unranked)
- Providence, RI (9)
- San Diego, CA (6)
- San Francisco, CA (2)
- Fresno, CA (unranked)
- Boston, MA (12)
- Richmond, VA (unranked)
- New York City, NY (8)
- Los Angeles, CA (17)
- Washington, D.C. (16)
- Baltimore, MD (10)
- Hartford, CT (23)
- Myrtle Beach, SC (unranked)
- New Haven, CT (unranked)
- Indianapolis, IN (unranked)
“Small businesses in Ventura County (Ventura and Oxnard) had high average annual revenues ($1,075,489), strong average credit score (679), and are mature businesses,” said Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2Credit and one of the nation’s leading experts in small business finance. “This year’s top 5 continues to show the strength of our nation’s coastal states as hubs for small and medium size businesses.”
Methodology
The data included in this study was collected from submitted cases between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024. The study encompassed more than 75,000 applications. Biz2Credit set a threshold of 150 applications for an MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) to be included in the 2024 study. As a result, the MSA level analysis was based on 49,940 cases above the threshold. Data pertaining to state name, MSA, and ZIP code is from the U.S. Census.
The 2025 Top 25 Cities Study is based on actual verified cash flows of merchants on the Biz2Credit platform during 2024. Submitted cases with an annual revenue exceeding $5 million were excluded from the revenue analysis. The ranking of cities in the study was established using BizAnalyzer Score (BA Score), a proprietary score developed by Biz2Credit. To determine the BA Score, Biz2Credit examined several key factors, including Credit Score, Annual Revenue, Age of Business, Debt-to-Income Ratio, and Cash Flow Analytics powered by Bank Statement Analyzer.
About Biz2Credit
Founded in 2007, Biz2Credit has helped thousands of companies access more than in small business financing. Biz2Credit is headquartered in New York City, employs over 800 people with over half in product, data science, and engineering roles. Using data analytics and predictive modeling, Biz2Credit seeks to enhance the accuracy and transparency of business credit decisions, fueling long-term economic development. Visit www.biz2credit.com, or follow the company on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter).
Media Contact: Brett Holzhauer, (818) 326-1109, brett.holzhauer@biz2credit.com
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