Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa are 3 most risky major U.S. metro areas for small businesses, study shows

Three Florida cities topped the list of most risky places for small business.

Three Florida cities top the list of the most risky places for small businesses among major U.S. metro areas, according to recent findings by Forbes Advisory.

The Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa areas, respectively, filled in the top three slots in the findings regarding risky areas for small businesses. California also had three cities in the top 10. Sacramento was at fourth, San Diego was fifth and Los Angeles was sixth.

The Forbes methodology for the rankings considered factors such as financial metrics, including commercial real estate rental rates and corporate tax rates; safety risk metrics, such as natural disaster risks and crime rates; and workforce metrics, such as job resignation rates, the minimum wage and household incomes.

The study only looked at the 50 largest metropolitan areas when conducting the study.

Miami topped the list because “the cost of supplies and equipment for business owners is steeper here than most other places,” the Forbes report said.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach area witnessed the highest rental price increases in commercial office space. Florida is also seeing one of the highest resignation rates in the country, contributing to the intense challenges for small businesses in the area.

High crime rates contributed to Jacksonville being ranked second on the list. Property crime rates in Jacksonville accounted significantly for Jacksonville’s spot near the top. But cybercrime was even more profound.

Jacksonville “had the third highest rate of cyber crimes per 10,000 residents (257), which is more than triple our study average of 82,” Forbes concluded.

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area earned its ranking as third most risky place for small businesses mainly due to the region on the Gulf Coast falling in the crosshairs of tropical disasters.

“The Tampa area has seen the fourth most natural disasters study-wide, 41 since 1953, 15 more than the study average,” the study found.

The median household income in the Tampa area didn’t help either, as it’s ranked the eight lowest in the breadth of the study.

Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida’s other large metro area, also made the top 25 list of most risky areas for small businesses. The Central Florida area was ranked 13th.

There were two other Southern metropolitan areas that made the list of top 10. Memphis, Tennessee, was ranked eighth, while Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina, was ranked 10th.