Mankato #1 in MN – Cities with the Lowest Cost of Doing Business

According to Moody’s Analytics, the Mankato-North Mankato MSA (Blue Earth and Nicollet Counties) has the Lowest Cost of Doing Business in Minnesota and the 8th lowest in the Upper Midwest (MN, IA, WI, SD, ND).

Below is a table compiled by Greater Mankato Growth for the Upper Midwest based on Moody’s 2016 Cost of Doing Business.  The “Index” column represents the Cost of Doing Business as compared to the U.S average of 100.  The lower the number the cheaper it is to do business in the metro.

Upper Midwest (MN, IA, WI, ND, SD)
MSAIndexUpper Midwest rank
Rapid City SD761
Sioux City IA772
Sioux Falls SD783
Dubuque IA794
Iowa City IA815
Des Moines IA826
Ames IA857
Mankato MN 858
La Crosse WI859
Davenport IL8510
St. Cloud MN8611
Duluth MN8712
Fargo ND8713
Green Bay WI8714
Cedar Rapids IA8815
Eau Claire WI8816
Bismarck ND8917
Appleton WI8918
Fond du Lac WI8919
Janesville WI8920
Wausau WI8921
Waterloo IA9122
Sheboygan WI9223
Omaha NE9224
Grand Forks ND9325
Oshkosh WI9326
Racine WI9427
Madison WI9528
Milwaukee WI9829
Chicago IL9930
Rochester MN10031
Minneapolis MN10332

The Cost of Doing Business analysis is comprised of 4 variables:

  1. Unit Labor Cost
  2. Energy Cost
  3. State and Local Tax
  4. Office Rent

Our competitive Cost of Doing Business is primarily driven by our index score in the Office Rent category.

Unit Labor CostsEnergy CostsState and Local TaxOffice Rent
MSAIndexIndexIndexIndex
Mankato-North Mankato999610057
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