Minneapolis ranked 40th among US cities on ease of doing business.

A newly launched study by the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University has ranked Minneapolis 40th among 115 cities in North America on the overall ease of doing business. The study scores and ranks major cities in the states or provinces of Mexico, the United States, and Canada on how easy or difficult it is to start, operate, and shut down a business.

The study “intends—through the creation of comparable measures over time and its overall Ease of Doing Business Score—to contribute to the understanding of which regulatory environments can produce the best economic outcomes for the largest number of people.”

The report, Doing Business North America, scored and ranked cities in six categories on the ease of starting and operating a small- or medium-sized business: (1) Starting a business, (2) Employing workers (3) Getting electricity (4) Registering property (5) Paying taxes, and (6) Resolving insolvency.

How Minnesota compares

Minneapolis ranks 40th with an overall score of 76.41 on Ease of Doing Business. This ranking is higher than that of Milwaukee, Wisconsin but lower than its other three neighbors–Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Fargo, North Dakota; and Des Moines, Iowa.

Minneapolis particularly ranks and scores well on getting electricity, employing workers, and resolving insolvency. However, the city needs to work on reducing the burden on businesses when it comes to starting a business, paying taxes, and registering property.

Overall, cities in the United States overall rank higher than those in Canada and Mexico.