State Start-Up Costs Don’t Flatter Missouri, Kansas

Missouri ranked middle of the pack, but Kansas fare considerably worse, in an analysis of costs for starting a business, according to a new report by Simplifyllc.com.

The analysis explored factors like corporate income tax rate, labor participation rate, energy costs, educational attainment and business-formation rates, just a few of the nine metrics that produced the site’s ranking scale.

Drawing on data compiled by the Census Bureau, Labor Department, the Small Business Administration, the Energy Information Administration and commercial realty data compiled by LoopNet, the rankings placed Missouri at No. 26—surprisingly, just one spot behind California.

Kansas, however, ranked behind only seven other states at No. 43.  Nevada topped the states with the lowest costs, followed by Colorado and Arkansas. On the other end, Minnesota was the most expensive locale, followed by New York and Louisiana.

The site’s breakdown for each state:

Missouri | Rank: 26

Total points: 9.462
Average corporate income tax rate: 4%%
LLC filing fees: $105
Average annual wage: $50,681
Labor force participation rate: 75.5%
Percentage of post-college-age residents with at least a bachelor’s degree: 31.7%
Commercial spaces available per 100,000 residents: 77.53
Average monthly commercial electric bill: $560.47
Small business lending per 100,000 people: $35,666,882
Net rate of business births, 2021: 0.97

Kansas | Rank: 43

Total points: 8.433
Average corporate income tax rate: 5.50%%
LLC filing fees: $165
Average annual wage: $50,993
Labor force participation rate: 77.7%
Percentage of post-college-age residents with at least a bachelor’s degree: 35.4%
Commercial spaces available per 100,000 residents: 76.43
Average monthly commercial electric bill: $549.25
Small business lending per 100,000 people: $28,535,580
Net rate of business births, 2021: 0.84

You can read the full report here.

Posted June 6, 2023