Midwest Startups, which supports the Midwest startup and innovation ecosystem, has released its 2022 Startup City rankings. This year’s data shows that the five Iowa regions included in the analysis of 59 Midwest cities all received lower rankings compared with last year.
Des Moines moved from the rank of 20 last year to 28 this year; Ames was in the 35th spot, down five places from last year; Iowa City’s ranking dropped by 14 places this year to 39; Cedar Rapids is down 10 spots from 2021 at 52, and the Quad Cities dropped three places to No. 58.
The rankings are based on three measures of the local startup ecosystem. Access to resources makes up 42.5% of the ranking, startup activity makes up 40.5%, and the city’s overall business and economic climate is 17%. The full data set and more information on the ranking criteria are available at this link.