Find a Job You Really Want In
Start-ups are thriving in today’s dynamic economy.
Working at a start-up offers invaluable experience, as teams navigate challenges and innovate in real-time—much like life itself.
If you have a groundbreaking idea that the world is waiting for, it’s crucial to know the best places to launch your venture to ensure success rather than failure.
Fortunately, our research has highlighted the top states for starting a start-up. Let’s dive in!
Here are the ten best states in America to launch a start-up in 2026:
Interestingly, Silicon Valley is no longer the only hotspot for start-ups.
Why is that?
Let’s explore the data further.
Summary of Findings
- Massachusetts tops the list for start-ups, with each establishment receiving an average of $2.5 million to initiate operations.
- California, home to the iconic Silicon Valley, ranks second, maintaining the highest number of start-up deals at 586.
- Colorado, Washington, and New York round out the top five states for start-up activity.
- Mississippi is ranked as the least favorable state for launching a start-up.
- Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, and Alaska complete the bottom five.
How We Conducted the Study
This study utilizes an index based on data from PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Kauffman Index.
We ranked each state across four critical categories related to start-ups:
- The state’s Kauffman Index ranking
- Total number of start-up deals
- Start-up deals per capita
- Funding amounts per capita for start-ups
The Kauffman Index categorizes states by size and ranks them based on their start-up growth rates.
The other three metrics are derived directly from PwC’s data, calculating per capita figures by dividing the total amounts by each state’s population.
It’s worth noting that Louisiana, West Virginia, and Oklahoma, as well as the bottom five states, showed no recorded deals or funding in this analysis.
Conclusion
According to PwC’s latest report, a record-breaking $23 billion was invested across 1,416 deals nationwide in recent quarters.
Now is the perfect time to pursue that innovative idea—whether it’s a revolutionary pet product or a tech solution—and start your entrepreneurial journey.
Let’s take a look at how each state ranks:
Author
McLeod Brown is a former writer and researcher for the Zippia Career Advice blog. His work at Zippia focused on understanding the relationship between colleges, debt, and jobs. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a BA in Business Administrator, he is now pursuing a masters of science in analytics from the Institute of Advanced Analytics.
