A new study from the AI Shopify company Build Your Store indicates that Fresno is the best California metropolitan area to start a business.

The ranking is based on five-year survival rates for new businesses, and Fresno’s was measured at 69.30%. That ranks No. 1 among California metros and No. 23 nationally.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, tops the ranking at 75.14%,

Conversely, Los Angeles and San Jose have two of the 10 worst metros for start-ups at 64.26% and 64.49% respectively.

The study identified St. Louis as the worst place to start a business. Its five-year survival rate is 58.37%. Miami (61.86%) and New York City (62.81%) ranked as the second- and third-worst metros.

The research relied on the U.S. Census Bureau’s business dynamics statistics. The rate measured whether an establishment remained active, not whether it was profitable or growing.

‘Location Still Matters’

“For ecommerce businesses, the local customer base does not define how far the company can grow, but location still matters,” Lior Pozin, co-Founder and CEO of Build Your Store.

“A smaller metro can give an online founder access to lower operating costs while still allowing them to sell nationally. Wherever a company is based, the fundamentals remain the same: validate demand, protect margins, control customer acquisition costs, and give buyers a reason to return.”

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