Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks and Burbank ranked among the top 15 in a Verizon Business report that looked at the country’s most “business-ready” cities.Verizon Business compiled the report to find cities that are poised for significant growth as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Santa Clarita ranked No. 4, Thousand Oaks ranked No. 9 and Burbank No. 14 in the top group that included cities from California, Arizona, Texas, Missouri and Florida.Cities were ranked on six factors: mean income, unemployment rate, people with a college degree, number of business applications, percentage of population that started a new business and homeownership.
The compilation lauded Thousand Oaks’ “impressively low” unemployment rate of 2.9 percent. Burbank was called a “nexus for business-savvy living” and was highlighted for its mean household income of $103,777.Also, L.A. County city West Covina was named in the list, ranking No. 2. The top city on the list was Sugar Land, Texas.Averages of factors for all 15 cities were as follows: Average mean household income: $80,092; average unemployment percentage: 3.5 percent; average bachelor’s degree percentage of population: 24.5 percent; average number of business applications: 8,152; average percentage of population that started a new business: 0.36 percent; and average percentage of people who own their house: 58.7 percent.
Local Cities Named ‘Business-Ready’
