For Small Business, Barnstable Is The Place To Be: National Study

BARNSTABLE, MA — For small businesses trying to succeed in small metro areas, Barnstable is just about the best place in the country, a new study finds.

The town, its villages and nearby communities rank second in the U.S., according to an analysis of business indicators in 179 small metro areas by CoworkingCafe, an international guide to flex workspaces.

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Published Wednesday, the research examined a dozen criteria related to business formation, economic growth and workforce conditions in each metro, according to the company.

Among the small areas – those with populations between 100,000 and 500,000 – Barnstable was topped only by Boulder, Colorado.

The Barnstable metro area bested Midland, Texas; Naples, Florida; and Cheyenne, Wyoming, ranking third to fifth respectively.

Barnstable earned high marks for its dense network of small businesses, the third-highest concentration among small metros, and for a highly educated workforce.

CoworkingCafe also pointed to Barnstable’s entrepreneurial culture, noting that 14.5% of local workers are self-employed. Median annual earnings in the metro reached $51,503, topping the national median.

The Barnstable metro economy expanded steadily between 2019 and 2023, with gross domestic product growth reaching 28.5%, according to the report.

Still, the metro didn’t measure up on some criteria. For example, Barnstable recorded 1,099 new business applications per 100,000 residents in 2024, well below the national average of 1,553.

The Barnstable metro area has more than 230,000 residents, according to census figures.

You can read the complete results from the CoworkingCafe study here.

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