Sarah Hauer

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Milwaukee isn't just Brew City. It's also a "Surge City," according to a ranking of the best places to start a business in the U.S.

The list of the 50 best places in America for business — dubbed "Surge Cities" — was compiled by Inc. Magazine and Startup Genome, a research organization. Scores were calculated and ranked based on seven variables: high-growth company density, population growth, rate of entrepreneurship, net business creation, job creation rate, wage growth and early-stage funding deals per capita.

No surprise, the fast-growing, hip Austin, Texas, was No. 1 on the ranking. Salt Lake City; Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and San Francisco rounded out the top five.

Milwaukee came in at No. 29 in the ranking.

Milwaukee was one of only three metros (with San Jose, California, and St. Louis) that ranked in the top 10 for both net business creation and wage growth.

Milwaukee ranked in the bottom 10 for its rate of entrepreneurship, high-growth company density, population growth and job creation.

The ranking lists developments across the city that contribute to its "Surge City" designation, like the new $524 million Fiserv Forum, artistic co-working space No Studios and venture funds from corporations including Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.

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"The latest challenge? Stemming the millennial brain drain," the article said, pointing to the state's $1 million "Wisconsin. It's More You" ad campaign in Chicago last year.

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Minneapolis ranked the highest of any Midwest city, at No. 21. The Minnesota city was No. 1 in the ranking for net business creation. Chicago came in at No. 36. Madison did not make the cut.

Sarah Hauer can be reached at shauer@journalsentinel.com or on Instagram @HauerSarah and Twitter @SarahHauer. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter Be MKE at jsonline.com/bemke.