Metros With the Most Positive Business Outlook

The performance of small businesses could mean a market has a healthy local economy, a strong community identity, and active job market. SmartAsset found that small business expectations are in decline nationwide, but some metro areas have a positive small business sentiment headed into the new year. The site compared four metrics from the 50 largest metros to find the metros with the highest positive small business sentiment. North Carolina dominated the top 10 list with three metros located at least partially in the state making the list. Salt Lake City, a metro with a fiery hot housing market, also broke into the second place spot after Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina.

1. Raleigh-Cary, NC

Around 37.5% of small businesses in Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina are operating at normal levels, the second-highest rate in our study. The Raleigh-Cary metro area finishes in the top 10 for two additional metrics: fifth-best for the percentage of small businesses that do not expect to return to normal levels of operation within six months or ever, at 44.9%, and eighth-best for the percentage of small businesses with at least three months of cash on hand, at 30.3%.

2. Salt Lake City, UT

In the Salt Lake City, Utah metro area, 33.2% of small businesses were operating at normal levels during the first week of December. This metro area is also a relatively good place to be if you are currently looking for a job, as 27.3% of small businesses are currently looking to hire new employees, the eighth-highest rate for this metric in the study. Finally, the Salt Lake City metro has the 11th-lowest percentage of small businesses that do not foresee themselves returning to normal levels of operation within six months or ever, at 49.0%.

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