Young entrepreneurs ditching Silicon Valley for these US cities

Silicon Valley may be home to a host of tech entrepreneurs, but younger Americans are increasingly looking to start up their businesses in other parts of the country.

According to a new study from LendingTree, Salt Lake City, Utah, had the highest concentration of young entrepreneurs in the U.S. The average age of business founders in the city was 37.8 years old. LendingTree credited Salt Lake City’s relatively low cost of living and rich talent pool as factors that make the city an attractive business environment.

Buffalo, New York, ranked second on the list, where the age of a typical business founder was 37.9 years old. Out of all the city’s entrepreneurs, 3.6 percent belonged to Generation Z – or those individuals born after 1995.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, entrepreneurs are typically about 38 years old, ranking the city third when it comes to cities with young business founders. Oklahoma City trailed New Orleans slightly, but had a large share of millennial business founders, who made up 43.7 percent of the local entrepreneurial demographic, according to LendingTree.

Entrepreneurs in Charlotte, North Carolina, averaged about 38.2 years of age, which is a city with another large share of Generation Z business founders.

Minneapolis (6), St. Louis (7), Portland (8), Milwaukee (9) and Austin, Texas (10), rounded out the list of the top 10.

Meanwhile, Baby Boomers were more likely to start their businesses in Silicon Valley – or San Jose, California – than anywhere else. Older entrepreneurs were also likely to start businesses in Providence, Rhode Island, and Hartford, Connecticut.

Louisville, Kentucky, had the highest proportion of millennial business founders at nearly 45 percent.

LendingTree analyzed data from business owners seeking funding through its small business marketplace, from the 50 largest cities, to create the study.