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) | ||
MSA | Index | Upper Midwest rank |
Rapid City SD | 76 | 1 |
Sioux City IA | 77 | 2 |
Sioux Falls SD | 78 | 3 |
Dubuque IA | 79 | 4 |
Iowa City IA | 81 | 5 |
Des Moines IA | 82 | 6 |
Ames IA | 85 | 7 |
Mankato MN | 85 | 8 |
La Crosse WI | 85 | 9 |
Davenport IL | 85 | 10 |
St. Cloud MN | 86 | 11 |
Duluth MN | 87 | 12 |
Fargo ND | 87 | 13 |
Green Bay WI | 87 | 14 |
Cedar Rapids IA | 88 | 15 |
Eau Claire WI | 88 | 16 |
Bismarck ND | 89 | 17 |
Appleton WI | 89 | 18 |
Fond du Lac WI | 89 | 19 |
Janesville WI | 89 | 20 |
Wausau WI | 89 | 21 |
Waterloo IA | 91 | 22 |
Sheboygan WI | 92 | 23 |
Omaha NE | 92 | 24 |
Grand Forks ND | 93 | 25 |
Oshkosh WI | 93 | 26 |
Racine WI | 94 | 27 |
Madison WI | 95 | 28 |
Milwaukee WI | 98 | 29 |
Chicago IL | 99 | 30 |
Rochester MN | 100 | 31 |
Minneapolis MN | 103 | 32 |
The Cost of Doing Business analysis is comprised of 4 variables:
- Unit Labor Cost
- Energy Cost
- State and Local Tax
- Office Rent
Our competitive Cost of Doing Business is primarily driven by our index score in the Office Rent category.
Unit Labor Costs | Energy Costs | State and Local Tax | Office Rent | |
MSA | Index | Index | Index | Index |
Mankato-North Mankato | 99 | 96 | 100 | 57 |