Ratings and Rankings - Doing Business
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Greater St. Louis has earned national recognition as having a favorable business climate with a competitive cost of doing business and a highly skilled work force. The business environment in Greater St. Louis recently has been recognized for:
Cost of Doing Business
- St. Louis ranks as the 7th most cost-competitive location to do business among 22 U.S. metros with populations exceeding two million, according to a study released by KPMG LLP in 2012. KPMG's Competitive Alternatives study measured 26 cost components, including labor, taxes, real estate and utilities, as well as non-cost-competitive factors.
- Forbes magazine ranked St. Louis No. 40 in its ranking of "Best Places for Business and Careers" for lowest cost of doing business among the 200 largest metro areas in April 2010, ahead of such cities as Tampa, Milwaukee, and Denver.
Business Opportunity Metro
- St. Louis ranks as the 8th "Large City of the Future" in Foreign Direct Investment (fDi) magazine's 'American Cities of the Future 2011/12' ranking, which includes 405 cities throughout North America and Latin America.
- The St. Louis region ranks No. 7 for "Large City Business Friendliness" among cities with populations of 250,000-750,000 based on economic potential, human resources, cost effectiveness, quality of life, infrastructure and business friendliness.
- The St. Louis region was designated as a "Five Star Business Opportunity Metro" by Expansion Management and Logistics Today magazines in Expansion Management’s August 2007 issue. St. Louis ranked No. 23 out of the nation's 362 metropolitan areas, which reflects the comparative strength of St. Louis in a number of major categories such as public education, health care cost and availability, quality of life and logistics infrastructure.
- Forbes magazine named St. Louis among its "Best Places For Business and Career" list, ranking St. Louis 22 out of 200 U.S. cities. The April 14, 2010 rankings are based on business cost, job growth, college degrees, and population.
Work Force
- The percentage of St. Louisans age 25 or older with bachelor’s degrees or higher — more than 29 percent — exceeds the national average, according to the American Community Survey 2009. This same survey found that among St. Louis area residents 25 or older, 11.6 percent have graduate or professional degrees, exceeding the U.S. average of 10.3 percent.
Small-Business Vitality
- MarketWatch named the St. Louis metro area the 25th "Best City for Business" for 2011. The list was compiled after ranking the nation's 101 biggest cities by number of companies per capita, employment picture, growth and GDP for economic stability.
Taxes & Incentives
- Missourians and Illinoisans enjoy a favorable per capita individual income tax burden as compared to U.S. averages. Missouri ranks as the 23rd lowest and Illinois ranks as the 27th lowest, according to the Census Bureau's 2010 ranking of State Goverment Tax Collections.
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