Minnesota and Wisconsin Rank in Top 20 States for Minority Entrepreneurs

A new list was just released ranking the top states for minority entrepreneurs, and Minnesota and Wisconsin made the top 20.

The list was compiled by Lendio, a platform used to connect small businesses with lenders, they used a variety of data points including small business loan accessibility, entrepreneurship rates, job growth, and income equality, to determine the top states for minority-owned businesses.

What States Tops The List?

Vermont tops the top 20 list for all racial minority groups, while Wyoming tops the list for Black entrepreneurs. Rounding out the top 5 is South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire.

Minnesota ranks as the 10th best state for all minority groups and 11th for African Americans, and Wisconsin comes in at the 19th spot for all minority groups and 20th for Black entrepreneurs.

Why is Lending an Issue With Minority Businesses?

The 2022 Small Business Credit Survey exposes a troubling pattern of racial bias in lending practices. White entrepreneurs had a 52% full approval rate, significantly higher than the rates for Asian (35%), Hispanic (28%), and Black (27%) entrepreneurs.

The number of businesses owned by Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans has reached a record high of 1.2 million in 2020, signaling a substantial increase of over 50% since 2007.

How Can I Support Minority-Owned Businesses?

There is a helpful directory that will help you find and support Black-owned businesses, mnblackbusiness.com keeps an updated list of over 300 businesses in the directory. The most recent data I could find says that Minnesota has 47,565 minority-owned businesses, making up 9.7% of all businesses in the state.