The World’s Most Entrepreneurial Countries & Cities

The map above, created by OnDeck, shows which countries are the most entrepreneurial in the world.

They did this by using LinkedIn’s data to discover the locations at home and all over the world that count the highest proportions of business founders per 10,000 workers.

Key Facts:

• Estonia counts 218.6 business founders per 10,000 workers — more than any other country.
• In the U.S., New York boasts 160.6 business founders per 10,000 workers — more than any other state.
• Eight of the top 20 most entrepreneurial cities in the world are in the United States, with San Francisco leading overall (353.7 business founders per 10k workers).
• After London, Brighton tops our ranking of the most entrepreneurial U.K. cities, counting 173.6 business founders per 10k employees.

From the map:

Being entrepreneurial is a skill in itself. First, to have the idea and then the motivation to bring it to life.

But how much does location play a part? To find out which countries have the highest proportion of business founders, we analyzed LinkedIn profiles in every country to see which had the term “founder” in their job title.

In recent years, Eastern Europe has emerged as the world’s preeminent region for new business startups.

In Estonia — where the average cost of starting a business is just 10% of GNI per capita, compared to 19.8% worldwide — there are 218.6 business founders per 10,000 workers, the most of any country.

Other major startup hubs in the region include Armenia, Georgia, and Lithuania.

Most Entrepreneurial US States

From the map:

A strong talent pool, low operating costs, and access to venture capital are some of the most important factors for attracting and fostering entrepreneurs.

In New York, 160.6 in every 10,000 LinkedIn profiles are the founder of a business, the most of any state.

Close behind is California — which drew in 43.2% of all U.S. VC investment in 2022 — where 156.4 in every 10,000 workers is a business founder.

World’s Most Entrepreneurial Countries Ranked

Country	Founders Per 10K Profiles
Estonia	218.6
Israel	167.5
Armenia	156.3
Georgia	133.3
Finland	130.8
England	122.4
Lithuania	112.9
Switzerland	108.3
Cyprus	107.3
Slovenia	107.3
Luxembourg	105.1
Singapore	104.1
Bulgaria	104
United Kingdom	99.7
Serbia	98
Liberia	95
Iceland	92.6
Malta	90.9
Sweden	89.2
Austria	88.6
Croatia	88.5
Lebanon	88.5
Greece	87.7
United States of America	86.2
Rwanda	85.9
Australia	83.2
Uganda	81.5
Slovakia	81
Denmark	80.4
Netherlands	80
Hungary	78.4
Mongolia	77.7
Latvia	76.7
Belgium	74.4
Nepal	74.4
North Macedonia	72
Germany	70
New Zealand	68.8
United Arab Emirates	68.6
Cambodia	68
Ireland (Republic of)	67.3
Zimbabwe	67.3
Canada	67.1
Sri Lanka	66.9
Myanmar	66.7
Czech Republic	65.9
Wales	64.8
Maldives	64.4
Scotland	64
Namibia	63.4
Kenya	62.7
Tanzania	62.4
Ghana	62
Albania	61.8
Bangladesh	61
Azerbaijan	60
Barbados	59.6
Turkey	59
Bosnia and Herzegovina	57.8
Zambia	57.1
Ireland (Northern)	56.1
Norway	55.3
South Africa	55
Bahamas	54.1
Portugal	53.5
Jordan	53.4
Nigeria	52.2
India	51.8
Botswana	51.5
Malawi	50.3
Bahrain	50
Mauritius	50
Romania	50
Kuwait	48.2
Somalia	48
Vietnam	47.5
Malaysia	44.5
Iran	44.2
Cameroon	43.7
Trinidad and Tobago	43.2
Moldova	42.5
Italy	42.1
Thailand	42
Jamaica	41.7
Poland	41.7
Ethiopia	39.8
Spain	39.8
Ukraine	37.9
Pakistan	37.5
Palestine	37.3
Japan	37
Uzbekistan	36
Egypt	35.7
Oman	35.5
Indonesia	35.2
Kyrgyzstan	34.1
Qatar	33.8
France	31.6
Haiti	31.3
Congo (Democratic Republic of the)	30.6
South Korea	29.4
Taiwan	28
Madagascar	26.9
Uruguay	26.9
Panama	25.5
Mozambique	24.6
Sudan	24.6
Afghanistan	24.1
Costa Rica	23.9
Libya	23.7
Kazakhstan	23.2
Tunisia	22
Saudi Arabia	21.4
Russia	21
Iraq	20.8
Senegal	20.5
Belarus	20.2
Syria	19.5
Argentina	19.4
Benin	19.2
Morocco	19.1
Guatemala	18.2
Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)	16.9
Dominican Republic	16.4
Philippines	16.3
Angola	16.1
Papua New Guinea	15.9
Togo	15.7
Congo (Republic of the)	15.1
El Salvador	15
Mexico	15
Fiji	14.6
Chile	14.3
Gabon	13.9
Mali	12.3
Guinea	11.9
Yemen	11.4
Honduras	11.1
Nicaragua	10.2
Bolivia	9.4
Peru	9.3
Brazil	9.2
Paraguay	9.1
Burkina Faso	8.8
Colombia	8.7
Algeria	7.8
Ecuador	7.6
China	7
Cuba	5.1
Venezuela	4.4

World’s Most Entrepreneurial Cities Ranked

City	Country	Founders Per 10K Profiles
San Francisco	United States	353.7
Tel Aviv	Israel	299.4
New York	United States	287
Amsterdam	The Netherlands	251.7
London	United Kingdom	238
Yerevan	Armenia	237.3
Austin	United States	233.1
Berlin	Germany	228.9
Tbilisi	Georgia	223.4
Vancouver	Canada	222.6
Scottsdale	United States	217.9
Oakland	United States	217.7
Los Angeles	United States	216.3
Helsinki	Finland	213.2
Zurich	Switzerland	196.1
Washington	United States	193.2
Stockholm	Sweden	190.9
Ljubljana	Slovenia	188.7
Geneva	Switzerland	184.3
Irvine	United States	180.5
Boston	United States	179.1
Miami	United States	178.2
Brighton	United Kingdom	173.6
San Diego	United States	170.4
Cambridge	United Kingdom	167.6
Nashville	United States	167.1
Atlanta	United States	166.7
Sofia	Bulgaria	163.8
Barcelona	Spain	162.8
Prague	Czechia	161.8
Copenhagen	Denmark	160.9
Kobenhavn	Denmark	160.9
Munich	Germany	158.5
Seattle	United States	158
Gent	Belgium	157.5
Ghent	Belgium	157.5
Oxford	United Kingdom	157
Toronto	Canada	154.9
Denver	United States	153.8
Lausanne	Switzerland	151.8
Antwerpen	Belgium	150
Vilnius	Lithuania	147.3
Brussels	Belgium	147.1
Portland	United States	144.5
Gold Coast	Australia	143.5
Chicago	United States	140.4
Rotterdam	The Netherlands	138.7
Vienna	Austria	138.4
Bratislava	Slovakia	137.9
Hamburg	Germany	137.5
The Hague	The Netherlands	136.8
Luxembourg City	Luxembourg	136.7
Belgrade	Serbia	136
Melbourne	Australia	134.9
Sydney	Australia	133.9
Milan	Italy	133.3
Cluj-Napoca	Romania	132.7
Oslo	Norway	127.7
Basel	Switzerland	126.2
Dubai	United Arab Emirates	126.1
Bucharest	Romania	125.5
Paris	France	125.4
Istanbul	Turkey	124.3
Dallas	United States	124.2
Budapest	Hungary	123.6
Eindhoven	The Netherlands	122.6
Victoria	Canada	122.6
Raleigh	United States	121.8
Riga	Latvia	121.8
Charleston	United States	121.6
Minneapolis	United States	121.5
Salt Lake City	United States	121.5
Auckland	New Zealand	120.2
Philadelphia	United States	119.2
Gothenburg	Sweden	116.9
Las Vegas	United States	116.7
Kigali	Rwanda	116.5
Calgary	Canada	116
Zagreb	Croatia	115.7
San Jose	United States	115.6
San José	Costa Rica	115.6
Bristol	United Kingdom	115.2
Malmö	Sweden	114.9
Manchester	United Kingdom	114.6
Kathmandu	Nepal	112.9
Durham	United States	112.7
Edinburgh	United Kingdom	112.2
Montreal	Canada	111.7
Tampa	United States	111.7
Lisbon	Portugal	111.6
Abuja	Nigeria	111.1
Tirana	Albania	111.1
Dusseldorf	Germany	110.1
Ottawa	Canada	110
Athens	Greece	109.5
Providence	United States	109.4
Skopje	Macedonia	109.1
Colombo	Sri Lanka	108.6
Cologne	Germany	107.3
Kampala	Uganda	106.4
Fremont	United States	106.1
Utrecht	The Netherlands	105.8
Plano	United States	105.7
Charlotte	United States	105
Singapore	Singapore	104.1
Cape Town	South Africa	103.4
New Orleans	United States	103.3
Orlando	United States	102.1
Arhus	Denmark	101
Long Beach	United States	100.8
Baltimore	United States	100.7
Brisbane	Australia	100.7
Mumbai	India	100.5
Fort Collins	United States	100
Phoenix	United States	99
Dublin	Ireland	98.4
Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	98.4
Thessaloniki	Greece	98
Phnom Penh	Cambodia	97.4
Nairobi	Kenya	97
Tehran	Iran	96.7
Jersey City	United States	96.4
Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	96.2
Beirut	Lebanon	95.9
Aarhus	Denmark	95.8
Honolulu	United States	95.2
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	95
Gilbert	United States	94.9
Henderson	United States	94.9
Pittsburgh	United States	94.9
Khulna	Bangladesh	94.8
Karachi	Pakistan	94.5
Brno	Czechia	94
Gaborone	Botswana	93.6
St. Louis	United States	92.1
Delhi	India	91.9
Boise	United States	90.9
Muscat	Oman	90.9
Warsaw	Poland	90.9
Hanoi	Vietnam	90.6
Ahmedabad	India	89.3
Columbus	United States	89.3
Tokyo	Japan	88.8
Santa Clarita	United States	88.4
Richmond	United States	88.2
Newcastle	Australia	88.1
Greenville	United States	87.8
Johannesburg	South Africa	87.7
Moscow	Russia	87.7
Wilmington	United States	87.6
Madison	United States	87
Wellington	New Zealand	87
Chandler	United States	85.4
Harare	Zimbabwe	85.2
Bangalore	India	85.1
Dar es Salaam	Tanzania	84.7
Houston	United States	84.3
Detroit	United States	83.9
Cincinnati	United States	83.7
Frankfurt	Germany	83.3
Perth	Australia	83.2
Adelaide	Australia	82.6
Leeds	United Kingdom	82.1
Rajshahi	Bangladesh	82
Halifax	Canada	81.7
Stuttgart	Germany	80.6
Dhaka	Bangladesh	80.5
Grand Rapids	United States	79.6
Florence	Italy	79.4
Kiev	Ukraine	79.4
Kyiv	Ukraine	79.4
Bern	Switzerland	79.1
Cardiff	United Kingdom	79.1
Rome	Italy	78.6
Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam	78.5
Lusaka	Zambia	78.3
Saint Paul	United States	78
Chattanooga	United States	77.5
Reno	United States	77.4
Milton Keynes	United Kingdom	76.9
New Delhi	India	76.4
Christchurch	New Zealand	76.3
Indianapolis	United States	76.2
İzmir	Turkey	75.7
Reading	United Kingdom	75.1
Canberra	Australia	74.9
Ankara	Turkey	74.8
Bangkok	Thailand	74.4
Kitchener Waterloo	Canada	74.3
Chittagong	Bangladesh	73
Cleveland	United States	73
Krakow	Poland	72.9
Leipzig	Germany	72.7
Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	72.6
Porto	Portugal	72.5
London	Canada	72.4
Newcastle upon Tyne	United Kingdom	71.8
Milwaukee	United States	71.6
Colorado Springs	United States	71
Birmingham	United Kingdom	70.8
Aalborg	Denmark	70.7
Seoul	South Korea	70.7
Sacramento	United States	70.3
Hamilton	Canada	70.2
Edmonton	Canada	69.9
Cork	Ireland	69.5
Norwich	United Kingdom	69.4
Pune	India	69.3
Kansas City	United States	68.1
Wrocław	Poland	67.5
Winston–Salem	United States	67.3
Jaipur	India	67.2
Turin	Italy	66.9
Glasgow	United Kingdom	66.8
Birmingham-Hoover	United States	66.7
Jacksonville	United States	66.5
Lahore	Pakistan	66.1
Buffalo	United States	66
San Antonio	United States	65.8
Nottingham	United Kingdom	65.5
Baku	Azerbaijan	65.3
Accra	Ghana	65.2
Newark	United States	65.2
Belfast	United Kingdom	64.9
Rochester	United States	64.9
Sheffield	United Kingdom	64.8
Tulsa	United States	64.8
Irving	United States	64.5
Santa Ana	United States	64
Aurora	United States	63.9
Virginia Beach	United States	63.7
Rhine-Neckar Area	Germany	62.9
Almaty	Kazakhstan	62.8
Kharkiv	Ukraine	62.6
Anaheim	United States	62.5
Quebec	Canada	61.6
Fort Worth	United States	61.3
Tucson	United States	61.2
Amman	Jordan	60.9
Southampton	United Kingdom	60.6
Bonn	Germany	60.3
Gdansk	Poland	60.1
Valencia	Spain	60.1
Chula Vista	United States	60
Greensboro	United States	60
Bandung	Indonesia	59.9
Bergen	Norway	59.8
Jakarta	Indonesia	59.4
Madrid	Spain	59.2
Taipei City	Taiwan	58.9
Mesa	United States	58.6
Antalya	Turkey	58.5
Louisville	United States	57.9
Syracuse	United States	57.4
Lexington	United States	57.3
Omaha	United States	56.5
Surat	India	56.5
Odessa	Ukraine	56.1
Kingston	Canada	55.4
Pretoria	South Africa	55.3
Liverpool	United Kingdom	55
Albuquerque	United States	54.8
Poznan	Poland	54.7
Memphis	United States	54.2
Kuwait	Kuwait	54.1
Winnipeg	Canada	54.1
Lagos	Nigeria	53.8
Fort Wayne	United States	53.6
Oklahoma City	United States	53.4
Bordeaux	France	53
Spokane	United States	53
Derby	United Kingdom	52.8
Nice	France	52.8
Columbia	United States	52.6
Leicester	United Kingdom	52.6
Lincoln	United States	52.1
Kelang	Malaysia	51.7
Bursa	Turkey	51
Port Harcourt	Nigeria	50.8
Coventry	United Kingdom	50.7
Kinshasa	Congo (Kinshasa)	50.7
Cairo	Egypt	50.2
Saint Petersburg	Russia	50
St. Petersburg	Russia	50
Arlington	United States	49.8
Kolkata	India	49.1
Braga	Portugal	48.8
Lyon	France	48.8
Riverside	United States	47.7
Bari	Italy	47.1
Glendale	United States	46.3
Semarang	Indonesia	45.9
Bogor	Indonesia	45.5
Coimbra	Portugal	45.3
Lille	France	45.3
Doha	Qatar	45.1
Alexandria	Egypt	44.8
Norfolk	United States	44.8
Essen	Germany	44.4
Genoa	Italy	44.4
Kingston upon Hull	United Kingdom	44.4
Aberdeen	United Kingdom	44.3
Antananarivo	Madagascar	44.2
Manama	Bahrain	44.1
Toledo	United States	43.8
Dnipro	Ukraine	43.3
Catania	Italy	43
Rawalpindi	Pakistan	42.8
Anchorage	United States	42.6
Khartoum	Sudan	42.2
Wichita	United States	42.2
Konya	Turkey	41
Fresno	United States	40.6
Chesapeake	United States	40.5
Naples	Italy	40
Malaga	Spain	39.9
Bloemfontein	South Africa	39.7
Łódź	Poland	39.4
Aveiro	Portugal	38.9
Macau	Macau	37.9
Bekasi	Indonesia	37.7
Setubal	Portugal	37.5
Leon	Mexico	37.2
Surabaya	Indonesia	37
Montevideo	Uruguay	36.5
Kuching	Malaysia	36
Hyderabad	India	35.7
Johor Bahru	Malaysia	35.6
Panama City	Panama	35.6
Tashkent	Uzbekistan	35.6
Durban	South Africa	35.4
Port Elizabeth	South Africa	35.4
Kota Kinabalu	Malaysia	35.2
Faisalabad	Pakistan	34.9
Lubbock	United States	34.9
Tripoli	Libya	34.5
Bradford	United Kingdom	34.2
Garland	United States	34.1
Gaziantep	Turkey	34
Toulouse	France	34
Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	33.9
Mexico City	Mexico	33.6
Nantes	France	33.3
Stockton	United States	33.3
Palermo	Italy	33.2
Brasov	Romania	32.7
Minsk	Belarus	32.5
Quebec City	Canada	32.1
Bilbao	Spain	32
Chennai	India	31.9
Casablanca	Morocco	31.7
Multan	Pakistan	31.2
São Paulo	Brazil	31.2
Cordoba	Argentina	31.1
Marseille	France	31.1
El Paso	United States	31
Bakersfield	United States	30.9
Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	30.8
Peshawar	Pakistan	30.4
Ipoh	Malaysia	30.2
Osaka	Japan	30.2
Strasbourg	France	29.8
Marrakesh	Morocco	29.6
Safi	Morocco	29.6
El Giza	Egypt	28.8
Shanghai	China	28.5
Taichung	Taiwan	28.5
Damascus	Syria	28.3
Quezon City	Philippines	28.3
Monterrey	Mexico	28.2
Malacca	Malaysia	28.1
Makkah	Saudi Arabia	28
Corpus Christi	United States	27.5
Manila	Philippines	27.5
Manila Area	Philippines	27.5
Buenos Aires	Argentina	27.3
Porto Alegre	Brazil	26.9
Adana	Turkey	26.7
Seville	Spain	26.3
Dakar	Senegal	26.1
Vigo	Spain	25.8
Taoyuan	Taiwan	24.4
Abidjan	Côte D’Ivoire	24.2
Curitiba	Brazil	23.8
Luanda	Angola	23.8
Granada	Spain	23.7
Zaragoza	Spain	23.4
Lima	Peru	22.7
Quito	Ecuador	22.2
Rosario	Argentina	22.2
Santiago	Chile	22.2
Tunis	Tunisia	22
Guadalajara	Mexico	21.9
Davao	Philippines	21.8
Agadir	Morocco	21.3
Bamako	Mali	21.2
Kenitra	Morocco	20.9
Rabat	Morocco	20.9
Shenzhen	China	20.4
Beijing	China	19.9
Cebu	Philippines	19.7
Belo Horizonte	Brazil	19.1
Mar del Plata	Argentina	18.9
Campinas	Brazil	18.6
Palembang	Indonesia	17.5
Santa Cruz	Bolivia	17.5
Guatemala	Guatemala	17.2
Valparaiso	Chile	17
San Salvador	El Salvador	16.5
Mendoza	Argentina	15.9
Asuncion	Paraguay	15.8
Bogota	Colombia	15.8
Murcia	Spain	15.4
Arequipa	Peru	15.2
Kingston	Jamaica	15
Caracas	Venezuela	14.8
Sharjah	United Arab Emirates	14.5
Ad Damman	Saudi Arabia	14.4
Medina	Saudi Arabia	13.6
Managua	Nicaragua	13.4
Algiers	Algeria	13.1
La Paz	Bolivia	13.1
Medellin	Colombia	13.1
Recife	Brazil	12.2
Dongguan	China	11.9
Meknes	Morocco	11.9
Puebla	Mexico	11.9
Hangzhou	China	11.7
Alajuela	Costa Rica	11.5
Brasilia	Brazil	11.4
Tucuman	Argentina	11.4
Cali	Colombia	11.2
Barranquilla	Colombia	10.8
Xiamen	China	10.8
Concepcion	Chile	10.2
Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	10.2
Cartagena	Colombia	9.6
Guayaquil	Ecuador	9.4
Tijuana	Mexico	9.4
Oran	Algeria	9.1
Baghdad	Iraq	9
Fez	Morocco	8.5
Guangzhou	China	8.5
Fortaleza	Brazil	8.1
Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	7.4
Torreon	Mexico	7.4
Salvador	Brazil	6.9
Zhuhai	China	6.5
Salta	Argentina	6.3
Qingdao	China	6.2
Ciudad Juarez	Mexico	6.1
Nanjing	China	6.1
Bucaramanga	Colombia	6
Chengdu	China	5.4
Antofagasta	Chile	5
Tianjin	China	4.6
Trujillo	Peru	4.4
Wuhan	China	3.3
Chongqing	China	2.6
Changsha	China	2.3
Santa Fe	Argentina	1.4

How was this calculated?

To determine the countries and cities with the highest proportion of business founders, we dug into LinkedIn, searching for profiles that contained the word “founder” as part of their title.

First, we retrieved the total number of LinkedIn profiles in each location. For global cities, we considered the top 250 cities from the Global Startup Report 2022, as well as the 10 most populated cities in every country. We also considered every country, every U.S. state, every U.K. city and the 100 most populated cities in the U.S. We excluded locations with fewer than 10,000 LinkedIn profiles.

We then searched all locations in our universe and tallied the number of profiles that included the word “founder” using the Title filter.

Finally, we ranked the locations on the number of founder profiles per 10,000 LinkedIn users.

This data was gathered as of July 2023.