Tampa is the fourth most competitive large city in the U.S. for business, according to the KPMG 2012 Competitive Alternatives Study. Tampa is ranked among cities with population of more than two million.
Tampa has a cost index of 96.4, far below that of San Francisco, California which is 104.5. San Francisco is the most expensive city for business among the country’s 27 largest cities.
Tampa’s cost index is lower than that of Miami, which is 97.8, and almost the same as third-ranking Orlando, which is 96.3. Compared to large cities worldwide, Tampa is more competitive than large cities in Australia, which has a cost index of 103.7; in Germany, with a cost index of 100.1; in Japan, with a cost index of 109.4; and in Italy, with a cost index of 97.9.
KPMG analyzed 26 business cost components such as property taxes, sales taxes, transportation, facility leasing, labor and utilities.
Cincinnati is the least expensive for business, according to KPMG. Here are the most competitive large cities in the U.S. for business, ranked according to their business cost index by KPMG:
95.9 Cincinnati, Ohio
96.2 Atlanta, Georgia
96.3 Orlando, Florida
96.4 Tampa, Florida
96.5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
97.0 Baltimore, Maryland
97.1 Saint Louis, Missouri
97.1 Cleveland, Ohio
97.2 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
97.6 Phoenix, Arizona
97.8 Miami, Florida
The tax, audit and advisory company KPMG LLP is the U.S. member company of KPMG International Cooperative, a global company that has more than 8,000 partners in 152 countries.
The city of Tampa has been included in other business location recommendations and lists. In December 2011, Kiplinger cited Tampa as one of Ten Great Cities for Starting a Business. It highlighted Tampa’s local government which is doing everything to help start-ups and other businesses; non-profits that organize networking, entrepreneurship and mentoring programs; Florida’s lack of personal income tax and lower corporate income tax rate; and the continued investments of national startup organizations in Florida.
The fast increase of Tampa’s population is also an attraction for businesses. Based on U.S. Bureau of Census data, the Tampa metro area is the 15th fastest-growing large metro area among 366 large metro areas in the U.S. over the period from July 2010 to July 2011. Tampa has been estimated to have more than 2.8 million residents in July 2011.
Come to the city of Tampa, and if you fall in love with the place, contact Tampa4U.com to find your next home.