It broke down which metro areas have seen a rapid rise in the number of startups, and which are coasting on a strong base. Silicon Valley's dominance isn't surprising, but perhaps more so is the rapid rise of places like Kansas City, Portland, and Salt Lake City.
Interestingly, the strongest influence on startup density isn't a strong research university in the area, but a concentration of established companies that help spin them off.
20. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif.
1990 rank: 15
Top companies: Qualcomm, Illumina, Isis Pharmaceuticals
San Diego's particularly well known as a hub for biotech companies, driven by UC San Diego and its medical center, but there's a large telecom and technology presence as well.
Top companies: Qualcomm, Illumina, Isis Pharmaceuticals
San Diego's particularly well known as a hub for biotech companies, driven by UC San Diego and its medical center, but there's a large telecom and technology presence as well.
19. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La.
Top companies: iSeatz.com, Kickboard, Entergy
In the aftermath of Katrina, there's been a flood of young, ambitious, and driven people hoping to help reinvent the city. As a result, many more people are starting companies there than ever before, and an increasing infrastructure is being built to support them. There's still a long way to go though.
18. Kansas City, Mo./Kan.
1990 rank: Outside of top 20
Top companies: Sprint, Cerner, Perceptive Software
Kansas City was the first city to get on the ultra-fast Google Fiber broadband network, which has brought a flood of startups to the area. It has a long history of companies spinning off other innovative companies, as this massive map tracing its tech scene's development shows.
Top companies: Sprint, Cerner, Perceptive Software
Kansas City was the first city to get on the ultra-fast Google Fiber broadband network, which has brought a flood of startups to the area. It has a long history of companies spinning off other innovative companies, as this massive map tracing its tech scene's development shows.
17. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga.
Top companies: Cox, IBM, Earthlink, First Data, Pindrop
Atlanta's making a concerted effort to move past the one business fact everyone knows about it — that it's the home of Coca Cola — and build itself up as a technology hub. Seventy percent of the country's credit card payments are processed in the area due to a high concentration of payment centers.
16. Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla.
Top companies: Citrix, Heico
Fort Lauderdale is thought of as more of a vacation destination than tech hub, but leading software company Citrix has been based there for well over 20 years.
15. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif.
1990 rank: 8
Top companies: Broadcom, Vizio, Liquidmetal, SendGrid
LA's "Silicon Beach" may get more press, but the Orange County area is surprisingly strong. It benefits from the same concentration of world-class universities, and the weather and beaches can't be beat.
Top companies: Broadcom, Vizio, Liquidmetal, SendGrid
LA's "Silicon Beach" may get more press, but the Orange County area is surprisingly strong. It benefits from the same concentration of world-class universities, and the weather and beaches can't be beat.
14. Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas
1990 rank: 5
Top companies: Texas Instruments, AT&T, Genband
Dallas hosts the third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters in the country, and its "telecom corridor" is home to nearly 6,000 companies.
Top companies: Texas Instruments, AT&T, Genband
Dallas hosts the third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters in the country, and its "telecom corridor" is home to nearly 6,000 companies.
13. Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz.
1990 rank: Outside of top 20
Top companies: GoDaddy, LifeLock, First Solar
Phoenix is home to the data centers of a huge variety of companies, beyond its own Internet firms. The fact that it's one of the places in the country least prone to natural disasters makes it a natural hub for a huge tech infrastructure.
Top companies: GoDaddy, LifeLock, First Solar
Phoenix is home to the data centers of a huge variety of companies, beyond its own Internet firms. The fact that it's one of the places in the country least prone to natural disasters makes it a natural hub for a huge tech infrastructure.
12. Wilmington, Del.
Top companies: DuPont, Bank of America, AstraZeneca, Incyte
Delaware's one of the most business-friendly states, from a legal perspective, in the entire country, which is why it's the home of a huge variety of payment and financial firms. Many large companies who aren't based there at least maintain a presence.
11. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.
1990 rank: Outside of top 20
Top companies: Elemental Technologies, Jive Software, Puppet Labs, Intel
Portland has emerged as more than just an (occasionally mocked) cultural hub. It's also an increasingly vibrant startup hub, with companies that reflect the city's unique culture. Eleven startups in the area collaborated on a video highlighting a shared culture in the startup scene and are working together to recruit talent to the city.
Top companies: Elemental Technologies, Jive Software, Puppet Labs, Intel
Portland has emerged as more than just an (occasionally mocked) cultural hub. It's also an increasingly vibrant startup hub, with companies that reflect the city's unique culture. Eleven startups in the area collaborated on a video highlighting a shared culture in the startup scene and are working together to recruit talent to the city.
10. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas
Top companies: AT&T, Dell, RetailMeNot, HomeAway, Bazaarvoice
Austin has a young, educated population, and has had a vibrant startup community for years with heavy VC funding, particularly in the software and semiconductor space. The relatively low cost of living, coupled with an excellent music and restaurant scene make it easy to convince people to relocate there.
9. Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md.
Top companies: Lockheed Martin, Westat, National Institutes of Health Headquarters
Bethesda benefits from proximity to both Washington D.C. and Baltimore, and is one of the country's most affluent and highly educated cities.
8. Raleigh-Cary, N.C.
1990 rank:11
Top companies: Red Hat, SAS Institute
The Raleigh area forms one corner of the Research Triangle, which is home to everything from tech startups to massive pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen, and Merck, as well as tech giants like IBM.
There's a huge concentration of education institutions in the area as well, including the University of North Carolina, Duke, and North Carolina State, which helps provide a steady stream of talent.
Top companies: Red Hat, SAS Institute
The Raleigh area forms one corner of the Research Triangle, which is home to everything from tech startups to massive pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen, and Merck, as well as tech giants like IBM.
There's a huge concentration of education institutions in the area as well, including the University of North Carolina, Duke, and North Carolina State, which helps provide a steady stream of talent.
7. Salt Lake City, Utah
1990 rank: 15
Top companies: Domo, Vivint, Qualtrics,
The growing concentration of tech companies in the area has earned it the nickname "Silicon Slopes." The state has made a particular effort to improve its universities in the science and technology fields, and to make it easier to spin research off into companies.
A secret weapon? The area has a particularly high concentration of foreign language speakers due to Mormon missionaries returning after two-year stints abroad.
Top companies: Domo, Vivint, Qualtrics,
The growing concentration of tech companies in the area has earned it the nickname "Silicon Slopes." The state has made a particular effort to improve its universities in the science and technology fields, and to make it easier to spin research off into companies.
A secret weapon? The area has a particularly high concentration of foreign language speakers due to Mormon missionaries returning after two-year stints abroad.
6. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C./Va.
Top companies: Living Social, Opower, Blackboard, Everfi
Let someone know you live in D.C., and they'll pretty much immediately assume you're an employee of the government or the massive apparatus that's grown up around it.
But there's actually a surprisingly vibrant tech scene, drawn from the broad base of resources, talent and potential customers, like the government's funding of high research, and the growing technological intensity of defense contracting and IT security.
5. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
Top companies: Amazon, Microsoft, Redfin, Payscale
Seattle has one of the most robust tech foundations of anywhere outside of the Bay Area. Giants like Amazon and Microsoft mean that there's a large concentration of extremely bright people from a variety of fields who go on to start their own companies.
Many Silicon Valley companies open up offices there to take advantage of the talent.
4. Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colo.
1990 rank: 9
Top companies: Paysimple, Associated Content, Photobucket, Closely
Nearby Boulder was actually named as the No. 1 startup city in America in another recent ranking. The presence of a young, educated workforce helps, as does a state government that's put a particular emphasis on encouraging the local startup community.
The venture capital fund Foundry Group and its influential founder Brad Feld have been a significant booster of startups in the region as well.
Top companies: Paysimple, Associated Content, Photobucket, Closely
Nearby Boulder was actually named as the No. 1 startup city in America in another recent ranking. The presence of a young, educated workforce helps, as does a state government that's put a particular emphasis on encouraging the local startup community.
The venture capital fund Foundry Group and its influential founder Brad Feld have been a significant booster of startups in the region as well.
3. Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, Mass.
1990 rank: 6
Top companies: HubSpot, uTest, Akamai, offices for Twitter, Google, Facebook, and Box
A lot of brilliant people come out of the Cambridge area from Harvard and MIT alone. More and more of them are starting companies right there rather than decamping for California, and the area has one of the strongest venture capital environments around.
Top companies: HubSpot, uTest, Akamai, offices for Twitter, Google, Facebook, and Box
A lot of brilliant people come out of the Cambridge area from Harvard and MIT alone. More and more of them are starting companies right there rather than decamping for California, and the area has one of the strongest venture capital environments around.
2. San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.
1990 rank: 4
Top companies: Twitter, Klout, Dropbox, Pinterest
Lots of startup gurus already make their homes in San Francisco. Increasingly, they're basing their companies there too, looking to combine all of the advantages of the Valley with a more vibrant, urban setting.
Still, San Francisco has the same talent crunch, with a real estate market that's even more hotly contested.
Top companies: Twitter, Klout, Dropbox, Pinterest
Lots of startup gurus already make their homes in San Francisco. Increasingly, they're basing their companies there too, looking to combine all of the advantages of the Valley with a more vibrant, urban setting.
Still, San Francisco has the same talent crunch, with a real estate market that's even more hotly contested.
1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
1990 position: 1
Top companies: Facebook, LinkedIn, Google
This is the heart of Silicon Valley, as it was 20 years ago. Despite producing massive companies like Facebook and Google, it had the largest drop in startup density from 1990 to 2010 among large metropolitan areas, even though it maintains the highest overall concentration.
The proximity to places like Stanford and billionaire investors is appealing, but the incredible cost and competition for talent and real estate can make things tough for those starting out.
Top companies: Facebook, LinkedIn, Google
This is the heart of Silicon Valley, as it was 20 years ago. Despite producing massive companies like Facebook and Google, it had the largest drop in startup density from 1990 to 2010 among large metropolitan areas, even though it maintains the highest overall concentration.
The proximity to places like Stanford and billionaire investors is appealing, but the incredible cost and competition for talent and real estate can make things tough for those starting out.
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