Fairfax County Among Best Places for Small Business Owners In VA

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Fairfax County ranks high among Virginia localities for the best places for small business owners, according to a new SmartAsset study.

SmartAsset ranked localities using three factors: the proportion of people in a county with small business income, how much business income they reported and the potential income tax a resident pays. Those three factors were equally weighted when determining the small business index score.

For the first two factors, the analysis looked at the number of tax returns that report small business income compared to the total tax-filing population of that area. SmartAsset then compared the total small business income to the overall income reported in that area.

To determine the third factor, SmartAsset used the national median household income with relevant deductions and exemptions. Then, the study calculated federal, state and local income taxes for each location. Because Virginia does not have local income taxes, the income tax amounts calculated for all localities were the same: $11,032.

Fairfax County ranked fourth overall among Virginia localities with a small business index score of 43.85. The county ranked fifth overall for both the percentage of small business returns — 29.02 percent — and percentage of small business income — 12.13 percent.

Rappahannock County ranked first overall with the highest percentage of small business returns — 35.83 percent. Fairfax County's neighbor Falls Church City ranked third overall, while Loudoun County ranked seventh, Alexandria ranked ninth, Fairfax City ranked 13th and Arlington County ranked 14th.

The full study from SmartAsset can be viewed here.