Study says Phoenix is the top city to relocate, start your business

PHOENIX — According to a recent study, Phoenix ranked as the top city in the nation to relocate or start a new business.

A booming real estate market propelled the city to the top ranking, the study from Commercial Cafe showed.

Lease prices were found to range from $14-$29 per square foot. This year, an extra 693,832 square feet of office space has been leased out in the city of Phoenix, which is an equivalent of 363 percent growth year-over-year.

Another contributing factor to the high ranking for Phoenix is the modest annual wage rate. The study described the cities average income, $54,800, as a “sweet spot” between not too expensive for businesses and still high enough to attract top professional talent.

The proximity to Arizona State University helped boost the city of Phoenix to the top spot. Being well connected as the home to Sky Harbor International Airport also helped the ranking of the city.

Six categories were given scores and then tallied together for the final ranking. The categories included number of graduates with higher-education degrees, job growth, average annual wage, average lease for office space, mean commute time, and average rent per square foot.

Cities were given a score out of 100 and then multiplied by a bonus depending upon population of the city. Phoenix finished with a score of 104.66.

The study was conducted by Commercial Cafe in partnership with Yardi Matrix data. They sampled data from 219 U.S. cities and found five of the top 20 cities were in the state of Texas. Arizona had four cities in the top 30 with Tuscon ranked seventh, Mesa at 20th, and Glendale at 30th.

Data was collected for the study from many sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, Tuscon Realty, Yardi Matrix, and Rent Cafe.

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