Lucas Lopez, owner of Cosmic Comics Toys N Hobbies in Corpus Christi is just one of many Hispanic business owners in the city. Photo by Carrie Robertson/Third Coast Photo
The Hispanic and Latino communities are creating new businesses at 15 times the national rate, a lot of which must be coming from the Corpus Christi. A personal finance and analysis website, WalletHub ranked Corpus Christi as the third best city in the nation for Hispanic entrepreneurs. Two other Texas cities made the top three with Laredo in first place and El Paso in Second.
The top 10 were gleaned from a list of 150 of the nation’s largest cities. The 19 key metrics used to gauge the success of small businesses included the median annual income of Hispanics, percentage of Hispanics with at least a bachelor’s degree, industry variety, five-year survival rate and significant startups per capita. Hispanic purchasing power was also considered, including the affordability of the community in terms of annual income and housing cost.
Out of the 150 cities, Corpus Christi ranked ninth in business friendliness and fifth in Hispanic purchasing power, resulting in its third place finish. Another Texas town in the top 10 (Texas had four of the 10 spots) was Brownsville in seventh place. (Find a list of all 150 here.)
2016 Best Cities for Hispanic Entrepreneurs
1. Laredo
2. El Paso
3. Corpus Christi
4. Pembroke Pines, Fla.
5. Baton Rouge, La.
6. Hialeah, Fla.
7. Brownsville
8. Sioux Falls, S.D.
9. Tulsa, Okla.
10. Oklahoma City
Source: www.WalletHub.com
