Charleston, S.C. Ranked #13 for Most Inc. 5000 High Growth Companies In Latest Study

Each year, Inc. Magazine publishes its list of the fastest-growing businesses in America — the Inc. 5000. To qualify, companies must be independent, privately-owned, domiciled in the United States, and meet certain revenue thresholds. Of qualifying companies, those with the fastest three-year revenue growth rates are selected.

An analysis was led by Brookings analysis of Inc. Magazine and Center for American Entrepreneurship data looking at what metropolitan area have the largest saturation of these companies.

Based on data compiled from 2011 to 2017, Charleston, South Carolina was ranked 13th for Inc. 5000 companies per 1 Million residents.

Eight medium-sized metros made the list (Boulder, Provo, Huntsville, Charleston, Trenton, Cedar Rapids, Durham, and San Luis Obispo), as did three small metros (Columbia, Charlottesville, and Fargo).

The Top 25 Cities based on Inc. 5000 High Growth Companies Per 1 Million Residents:

1. Boulder, Colorado – 367
2. Provo, Utah – 341
3. Washington, D.C. – 329
4. Huntsville, Alabama – 297
5. Austin, Texas – 289
6. Salt Lake City, Utah – 232
7. San Francisco, California – 199
8. Atlanta, Georgia – 194
9. Boston, Massachusetts – 184
10. Denver, Colorado – 181
11. San Diego, California – 178
12. Raleigh, North Carolina – 171
13. Charleston, South Carolina – 165
14. Columbia, South Carolina – 164
15. Trenton, New Jersey – 158
16. Seattle, Washington – 155
17. Cedar Rapids, Iowa – 155
18. Nashville, Tennessee – 153
19. San Jose, California – 152
20. Charlottesville, Virginia – 150
21. Durham, North Carolina – 137
22. Tampa, Florida – 137
23. Fargo, North Dakota – 136
24. San Luis Obispo, California – 133
25. Dallas, Texas – 130

Detailed Analysis of findings