The Big Apple and Greater Provo Host the Most Fast-Growing Firms
The Big Apple and Greater Provo Host the Most
Fast-Growing Firms
Like the ice climbers on its mountains, Provo-Orem’s entrepreneurial
firms are not averse to the adventure that comes with a fast-growing
venture.
Photo courtesy of Visit Utah
In last week’s Snapshot you learned that California, Texas and Florida lead
the pack of states with the most Inc. 5000
firms, with D.C., Virginia and Utah boasting the most per capita.
Today we examine which metro areas and cities have the most fast-growing
companies. These Top 10 correspond closely with the most recent Census
Bureau list of the most populated metro areas — only the Bay Area and
Greater Boston are not also among the nation’s 10 most populous metros:
Top 10 States by Number of Inc. 5000 Firms in 2023
Metro Area
Population
Inc. 5000 Firms
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
19,768,458
355
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
6,356,434
297
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
12,997,353
290
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
9,509,934
220
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
7,759,615
215
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA
6,144,050
211
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
6,091,747
204
San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
4,623,264
147
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
4,899,932
138
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
6,228,601
124
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Two of the 10 most populated metros to just miss the above list were
Greater Houston (No. 5 in population and No. 14 by Inc. 500 firms with 95)
and Greater Phoenix (No. 10 in population and No. 12 in Inc. 500 firms with
117.) However, Houston proper is No. 7 when the numbers are broken out by
municipality instead of overall metro. It’s one of three Texas cities in
the Top 10:
City
Inc. 5000 Firms
New York City
192
Chicago
120
Atlanta
111
Austin
106
Dallas
83
San Francisco
70
Houston
63
Miami
61
Los Angeles
60
Denver
50
Dividing those cities’ numbers by their respective overall metros’ numbers
shows Houston to be the most namesake-city-dependent, with 66.3% of the
metro’s Inc. 5000 firms in the city proper. Chicago claims 54.5% of
Chicagoland’s firms and the Big Apple hosts 54% of its metro’s firms. The
metros with the most dispersed pattern from their namesake cities include
L.A. (only 20.6% in the city), Miami (30%) and Dallas (38.6%).
Next, we look at the Top 10 Metros by Inc. 5000 Companies Per Capita.
Setting a minimum bar of at least three qualifying companies produces the
following Top 10 — a compelling mix of brainpower regions in the Southeast
and the Mountain West bolstered by institutional firepower, startup
culture, university communities or some virtuous blend of all three:
Top 10 Metros by Number of Inc. 5000 Firms Per Capita
Metro Area
Population
Firms
Firms Per 1M People
Provo-Orem, UT
697,141
39
55.9461
Oxford, MS
56,884
3
52.7241
Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX
2,352,426
122
51.8619
Heber, UT
79,266
4
50.4414
Bozeman, MT
122,713
6
48.8998
Huntsville, AL
502,728
24
47.7422
Charleston-North Charleston, SC
813,052
36
44.275
Boulder, CO
329,543
14
42.4886
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
2,972,566
107
35.9954
Chattanooga, TN-GA
567,641
20
35.2361
Setting the bar at a minimum of five companies would bring metro Atlanta
(211 firms) and metro Miami (204 firms) into the fold, an impressive
showing for regions with populations over 6 million apiece. Austin proper,
with 106 firms, accounts for 86.9% of its metro area’s Inc. 5000 companies.
Among companies in the Provo-Orem region are women’s supplement company
Legendary Lady Labs in Lehi (No. 119) and fashion e-commerce company Baltic
Born in American Fork (No. 168). Provo earlier this year was No. 1 among
large cities for the third year in a row in the Milken Institute’s
Best-Performing Cities (BPC) rankings. Austin-Round Rock, Texas, No. 3 in
the above list, was No. 2 on the Best-Performing Cities scorecard. —
Adam Bruns and Daniel Boyer
Thesis, a company that offers “a customized approach to
cognitive performance products based on an individual’s unique
brain chemistry” and has raised over $13.5 million in funding,
is the highest-ranking Inc. 5000 firm in New York City at No.
12.
