Most Profitable Businesses In Country: See How Denver Ranks

DENVER, CO — Denver ranks fifth among U.S. cities with the most profitable businesses, according to a report. LendingTree looked at data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Entrepreneurs and ranked U.S. metro areas with the highest share of profitable businesses.

Denver's metro area has the fifth largest share of profitable businesses, with 29,560 out of 42,610 total businesses in the area reporting profits, the data show.

Top 10 cities with the most profitable businesses:

1. Seattle - 70.93 percent
2. Louisville, Ky. - 69.98 percent
3. Indianapolis - 69.92 percent
4. Portland, Ore. - 69.85 percent
5. Denver - 69.37 percent
6. Columbus, Ohio - 69.09 percent
7. Minneapolis - 69.05 percent
8. Milwaukee - 68.44 percent
9. Nashville, Tenn. - 68.21 percent
10. Charlotte, N.C. - 67.93 percent

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The economy, competition, lawsuits and other variables make starting a business very risky. Many businesses fail less than a decade after they launch.

Seattle took the top spot with almost 71 percent of firms there reporting profits. Of the rest of the firms in Seattle, 16 percent reported losing money and 13 percent reported breaking even.

Most businesses are profitable, even in the most cut-throat markets, the LendingTree report shows. In New York, the metro area with the lowest share of profitable businesses, about 57 percent of firms with employees cut a profit. Not all is doom and gloom for unprofitable businesses in the Big Apple — many are at least breaking even. New York had the highest share of businesses reporting break-even revenue.

Houston was the unfortunate champion of the unprofitable firm. According to Census Bureau data, 23.37 percent of firms there report a loss.