Do you want to find a large city or a small town? Do you need a large population or small population to be successful? If you have a preference, search by population size.
The size of the labor force is the number of people in the community that are currently working or are collecting unemployment. If you need a large number of workers to draw from, then you may require the size of the community's labor force to be larger.
Small businesses, defined as companies with fewer than 20 employees, are the driving force behind the nation"s economy. They also have needs that differ from large corporations. If you are a small business, you may want to consider areas that are better suited for the success of a small business.
This measures the increase in new jobs in the last year. If you want to find a community with a growing local economy, you can search for places that have proportionally been adding new jobs.
The unemployment rate indicates how much of the labor force is currently looking for work. Unemployment rates can be used to identify the availability of workers in a community. However, it is likely that your business will also recruit and hire future employees from the existing base of people who currently have jobs. The unemployment rate is available for all counties and for cities of roughly 25,000 population and over.
Searching by median age will help you identify communities that may have ranges of younger to more senior workers. It is also a helpful to use if you are looking for a certain age group of potential customers that meet your product or service offering.
Education level can be used to help identify the skill level of the workforce. You may want to use this search if your business typically needs employees with a college education. This variable will show you the proportion of the overall community that has a college education.
Education level can be used to help identify the skill level of the workforce. You may want to use this search if your business typically needs employees with a high school education. This variable will show you the proportion of the overall community that has a high school education.
White Collar Workers include: Executive, Managers and Administrators, Professional Specialty Occupations, Sales Professionals, Technologies and Technicians, Sales Workers and Clerks, Administrative Support Workers, and Field Occupations for Technical, Sales, and Administrative Workers. If you need to hire workers within these categories, you may want to include this in your search.
Blue Collar Workers include: Private Household Services, Protective Services, Farming, Forestry, and Fishing, Site Based Precision, Craft, and Repair, Field Based Construction, Repair, and Mining, Machine Operators, Assemblers, and Inspectors, Transportation and Materials Moving Workers, and Handlers, Helpers, and Laborers. If you need to hire workers within these categories, you may want to include this in your search.
The most mobile, flexible, and talented workers are those people 25 to 34 years old that have a bachelor's degree or higher according to Joseph Cortright of Impresa Consulting. The presence of these workers, who he calls the 'Young and Restless,' indicates the ability of an area to attract and retain the most talented and footloose workers that will aid the future productivity of the community. These people are often educated, talented, and are more affordable to hire than workers with more years of experience. While his research analyzed metropolitan areas, we use our analysis of all cities and counties possessing over 65,000 people for the 25 to 35 year old age group.
Universities and community colleges produce highly trained and specialized workers. Colleges are increasingly becoming the factories which continuously produce talent. Employers that locate near these institutions have easier access to recruiting college graduates, as well as college student interns. You can specify a type of facility (university or community college) that you would like to be near, as well as specify how close you would like to be to that educational facility.
Patents are granted to recognize innovative achievements and inventions. You may want to search for an area with a high level of patents per capita if you are looking for a community with innovative people who engage in pushing the boundaries of their fields through cutting-edge research, design, and experimentation.
Venture capital is a form of private equity funding typically provided by professional investors to new, growth businesses. This variable will help you find areas with businesses that have received venture capital funding in 2010.
A sole proprietorship is a business run by the owner without any additional employees. These businesses are a diverse group. The U.S. Census refers to these businesses as “lone wolves” and recent fast-growing sole proprietorships include web search portals, Internet service providers, nail salons, electronic shopping and mail-order houses, recreational vehicle dealers and landscaping services. A community with a large amount of these businesses indicates the one thing they all share: the presence of an entrepreneurial spirit and capacity for risk-taking necessary for a person to go into business for one’s self.
The number of new business establishments or startups in a community gives a good sense of the suitability of the community as a place to start a new business. If you are considering communities to start a new company, you may want to see where new establishments have been sprouting up.
Housing values indicate the costs of locating in an area. You can search by housing values to determine how expensive it will be for your employees to locate in a particular community.
Household Expenditures measure how much the average household spends per year. If you market high-end goods or services, you may want to search for communities with high levels of household expenditures. This is the 'average' household expenditures and therefore is more likely to be impacted by very high or very low expenditure households. Averages and median household numbers are difficult to compare. For example, if a community has a higher average household expenditure value than their median household income, it does not necessarily mean that people are spending more than they are earning.
Household income is a measurement of wealth. This is a good tool to identify how much the typical household is making compared to the amount of money your employees or future employees might expect to make to live in the community. It can also be used as a search variable to target your company's products or services to low-income or high-income areas.
Personal income tax is levied on personal earnings/wages. Earnings are often taxed at different rates depending on the amount of income. High personal income taxes effectively raise the costs of working, saving, investing, and risk taking. The income taxes shown are for the state's top personal income tax rate, which reflect deductibility of federal income taxes in certain states.
Corporate income tax is levied on the net income of businesses and may influence where businesses choose to invest and locate. The corporate income taxes shown are for the state's top corporate income tax rate. Corporate income tax rates reflect deductibility of federal income taxes in certain states.
A capital gains tax is charged on the profit from on the sale of a non-inventory asset that was purchased at a lower price such as the sale of stocks, bonds, and property. Capital gains are generally taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income to provide incentives for investors to make capital investments and fund entrepreneurial activity. Higher capital gains taxes directly impact the return on investment. The capital gains taxes shown are for the state's top capital gains tax rate and reflect deductibility of federal income taxes in certain states.
High sales taxes increase the costs for certain goods and services. Communities with low sales taxes may be able to attract shoppers for certain purchase types. Sales taxes may also increase the costs of doing business for certain industries. The sales taxes shown are for states, and the local taxes may increase the total sales tax on items.
The average time it takes a person to get to work is a measure of quality of life, as it decreases the amount of free time available in the day. Longer or more stressful commutes may impact the worker's productivity. You may want to search for communities with shorter commuting times if you are concerned that your employees will not accept long commutes. The national average commute time in 2007 was 25.3 minutes.
If your employees or your clients are frequent fliers the proximity and availability of airports will be important. This tool will allow you to identify communities with airports and those that are within a relatively short commute of an airport. Only commercial airports are counted, which are publicly owned airports that have at least 2,500 passenger boardings each calendar year and receive scheduled passenger service.
Some businesses prefer to be near an Interstate. It may provide easier transportation access for your employees for their commute. Other businesses may want to be near an Interstate to more easily serve their customers. For distribution facilities it provides rapid access for trucks to get to and from their destinations more quickly which can be a financial advantage. If you want to have an Interstate in the community enter the number zero.
Some businesses receive and ship goods by railroad. This search variable allows you to find communities that are within a specific distance of rail. If you want a rail line in the community enter the number zero.
Industry searches will help you understand the number of employees in specific industries and the average salary that workers in those industries are paid. This will show you the population of workers available for your business in different categories and the typical cost it will be for you to employ them in a particular community.