{"id":771605,"date":"2026-05-04T01:57:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T01:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/771605\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T01:57:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T01:57:15","slug":"honored-to-be-recognized-study-names-north-chicago-1-small-city-in-illinois-for-starting-a-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/771605\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Honored to be recognized’: Study names North Chicago #1 small city in Illinois for starting a business"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"\" <\/a>File Photo | Photo: City of North Chicago<\/p>\n

A new study released has named North Chicago as the best small city in Illinois and just over 50th in the nation to start a business as city officials say they are honored by the recognition.<\/p>\n

WalletHub, a personal finance company, recently released a study on the best and worst small cities to start a business.<\/p>\n

The City of North Chicago ranked first in Illinois and 56th in the United States as the \u201cBest Small Cities to Start a Business.\u201d<\/p>\n

WalletHub evaluated cities across the country based on key metrics, including business environment, access to resources and business costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City of North Chicago is honored to be recognized by WalletHub as the first \u2018Best Small City in Illinois\u2019 and 56th nationwide for starting a business. This distinction reflects our ongoing commitment to cultivating a strong economic environment, supporting entrepreneurs at every stage of business development, and fostering sustainable growth. We remain dedicated to advancing policies and partnerships that make North Chicago an attractive destination for businesses to launch and succeed,\u201d North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham, Jr. said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing ranked first in Illinois and 56th nationwide affirms the progress we have made in creating a business-friendly environment. We will continue to prioritize initiatives that support innovation, investment, and long-term success for our business community,\u201d Rockingham said.<\/p>\n

North Chicago officials say the ranking shows their \u201cdedication to creating opportunities\u201d for small businesses through strategic partnerships, accessible resources and forward-thinking policies designed to attract entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

WalletHub compared more than 1,300 cities with fewer than 100,000 residents across 18 key metrics to determine the most business-friendly small markets in the U.S.<\/p>\n

The data set ranges from small business growth rates and the accessibility of financing to investor access and labor costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefits of starting a business in a small city include lower overhead costs, stronger relationships with customers and the potential to become a big fish in a little pond,\u201d WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said.<\/p>\n

City officials say they remain committed to building on the momentum by continuing to invest in economic development initiatives that strengthen the local economy and enhance the quality of life for residents.<\/p>\n

Among other Illinois cities, WalletHub ranked Quincy, Bloomington, Schaumburg, Moline and Champaign below North Chicago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"File Photo | Photo: City of North Chicago A new study released has named North Chicago as the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":771606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,607,5386,1818,106782,12437,7572],"class_list":{"0":"post-771605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-north-chicago","13":"tag-rankings","14":"tag-study"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116513829401381693","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}