The Top 10 U.S. Cities for Black-Owned Businesses — and Why They Stand Out

If a Black entrepreneur is deciding where to start, relocate or grow a business, geography can matter almost as much as the business plan.

Access to customers, government contracts, capital, networking, mentorship and a strong base of other Black entrepreneurs can dramatically influence whether a company merely survives or has an opportunity to grow.

The latest national data shows one region of the country standing above the rest:

The South.

Nine of the 10 highest-ranking metropolitan areas for the share of businesses that are Black-owned are located in Southern states, according to a 2026 LendingTree analysis of the latest U.S. Census Bureau Annual Business Survey.

And at the top of the list — for the fourth consecutive year — is Atlanta, Georgia.

The national picture, however, remains far from equal.

Black Americans represent roughly 14.4% of the U.S. population, but only 3.4% of employer businesses nationwide were Black-owned in 2023, the latest year for which comprehensive Census data are available. There were approximately 200,885 Black-owned employer businesses nationally.

Brookings reports that those businesses generated approximately $249 billion in revenue, supported more than 1.8 million jobs and paid nearly $70 billion in salaries in 2023.

So where are Black entrepreneurs establishing the strongest footholds?

Here are the top 10.

1. Atlanta, Georgia

Black-owned share of businesses: 10.7% Black-owned employer businesses: 13,091

Atlanta isn't simply No. 1.

It is No. 1 by a noticeable margin — and has held that position for four consecutive years.

Approximately one out of every nine employer businesses in metro Atlanta is Black-owned, according to the latest Census-based analysis. Metro Atlanta has approximately 13,091 Black-owned employer firms, more than any other metro in the top 10.

Why Atlanta?

The region combines several advantages rarely found in one market: a large Black population, generations of Black entrepreneurship, multiple historically Black colleges and universities, a sizable Black professional class and deeply established business and social networks.

Atlanta also has government-backed resources specifically being used to help entrepreneurs obtain capital and strengthen their companies.

Invest Atlanta says its assistance to Black-owned businesses includes small-business loans, commercial down-payment assistance, improvement grants, business consulting and technical resources. In 2026, it also launched additional technical-assistance programs aimed at improving operations, marketing and revenue performance for small businesses.

Atlanta's numbers are especially relevant to South DeKalb because metro Atlanta's Black entrepreneurial economy does not stop at Atlanta's city limits. DeKalb County, Stonecrest, Decatur and other surrounding communities are part of the same broader economic ecosystem.

One caution: Atlanta's Black-owned share fell from 11.3% in 2022 to 10.7% in 2023, meaning its leadership should not be mistaken for guaranteed continued growth.

1. Fayetteville, North Carolina

Black-owned share: 9.9% Black-owned employer businesses: 472

Fayetteville may be considerably smaller than Atlanta, but nearly 10% of its employer businesses are Black-owned, giving it the second-highest rate among the 100 metropolitan areas analyzed.

Fayetteville also has an unusually large Black population — approximately 37.3% of the metro population — providing Black entrepreneurs with a substantial local consumer and professional base.

The city has built economic-development programs aimed at helping small and disadvantaged businesses start, expand and reinvest locally.

Its "Can-Do Economic Development Programs" include incentives, federally funded initiatives, commercial-corridor programs and strategies supporting disadvantaged business enterprises.

Fayetteville also benefits economically from the enormous military presence surrounding Fort Bragg, creating opportunities in contracting, professional services, transportation, food service, construction and other industries.

For entrepreneurs who don't need a market the size of Atlanta, Fayetteville demonstrates that a smaller metro can still support unusually high levels of Black business ownership.

1. Washington, D.C.

Black-owned share: 9.4% Black-owned employer businesses: 10,627

Washington combines something few other cities can match:

A historic Black entrepreneurial community sitting beside one of the largest purchasers of goods and services in the world — the federal government.

More than 10,600 employer businesses in the Washington metropolitan area are Black-owned, giving the region both scale and one of America's highest proportional rates of Black business ownership.

Government contracting is a particularly significant part of the Washington business environment.

The District's Department of Small and Local Business Development operates its Certified Business Enterprise system and provides certification assistance, procurement training, one-on-one counseling and support for businesses pursuing local, state and federal government contracts.

That combination of government purchasing, consulting, technology, professional services and a large Black middle and upper-middle-class population makes Washington one of the country's strongest markets for Black-owned professional firms.

1. Memphis, Tennessee

Black-owned share: 9.1% Black-owned employer businesses: 1,477

Memphis comes in fourth nationally, with 9.1% of employer businesses identified as Black-owned.

The metro also has the largest Black population share among the top five markets: approximately 46.6%.

That demographic base matters.

A strong concentration of Black residents can produce customers, employees, business-to-business relationships and community networks capable of supporting Black enterprises.

Memphis also sits at the center of one of America's most important transportation and logistics hubs, creating opportunities in trucking, warehousing, distribution and related services.

The City of Memphis updated its Small Business Enterprise program in June 2026 with an ordinance designed to expand meaningful business opportunities and participation in city commerce for small and emerging companies.

For Black entrepreneurs in logistics, construction, food, professional services and neighborhood retail, Memphis combines a relatively affordable Southern market with a substantial Black consumer base.

1. Virginia Beach, Virginia

Black-owned share: 8.8% Black-owned employer businesses: 2,357

Virginia Beach ranks fifth, with approximately 2,357 Black-owned employer companies.

About 8.8% of businesses in the metro are Black-owned.

One significant advantage is the region's combination of military installations, federal spending, tourism and government contracting.

Virginia Beach also maintains a dedicated Small, Women and Minority-Owned Business — or SWaM — office designed to help businesses access city contracts, training and development resources.

The city has established an aspirational minority participation goal in contracting and, in 2026, continued programs aimed at helping minority entrepreneurs strengthen their businesses. Its UPLIFT accelerator provides assistance in financial analysis, marketing, mentoring, networking and wealth building.

That infrastructure can be particularly valuable for firms trying to move beyond consumer sales into larger government and institutional contracts.

1. Baltimore, Maryland

Black-owned share: 8.0% Black-owned employer businesses: 4,201

Baltimore ties Richmond for sixth place.

More than 4,200 Black-owned employer businesses operate in the Baltimore metro, accounting for approximately 8% of businesses.

Baltimore's strengths include a large Black population, proximity to Washington, major universities and hospitals, port activity and substantial public-sector purchasing.

The city also operates a formal Minority and Women's Business Enterprise program.

Baltimore law requires the city to establish and review participation goals and provides mechanisms intended to increase opportunities for minority-owned companies in construction, commodities, architecture, engineering, professional services and other government contracting.

Baltimore nevertheless illustrates an important point: having strong programs does not mean disparities have disappeared. In fact, the city's own disparity studies and contracting policies exist precisely because significant disparities have historically remained.

1. Richmond, Virginia

Black-owned share: 8.0% Black-owned employer businesses: 2,011

Richmond shares sixth place with Baltimore.

Approximately 2,011 businesses in the metro are Black-owned, accounting for 8% of employer firms.

Richmond has deliberately built infrastructure around minority entrepreneurship.

Its Office of Minority Business Development provides technical assistance, startup and growth development, one-on-one counseling, business assessments, workshops, certification assistance and financing referrals.

The city continued adding programs in 2026, including an eight-week initiative aimed at helping established local companies scale their operations and improve long-term sustainability.

For entrepreneurs, that kind of ecosystem matters because businesses often need more than startup money. They need assistance reaching the next stage: employees, contracts, credit, commercial property and larger customers.

1. Columbus, Georgia

Black-owned share: 7.8% Black-owned employer businesses: 379

Georgia makes the top 10 a second time with Columbus.

Although the number of employer businesses is much smaller than Atlanta's, 7.8% of Columbus-area businesses are Black-owned, ranking the metro eighth nationally.

The Black population comprises roughly 42% of the metro population, providing a significant local consumer base.

Columbus Consolidated Government also operates a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program and says it is committed to using qualifying businesses to the fullest practical extent in purchasing and federally assisted contracts.

For certain smaller city purchases, departments are required to seek at least one quotation from a disadvantaged business enterprise.

Columbus also benefits from military-related economic activity associated with Fort Benning/Fort Moore and its supporting industries.

Its inclusion in the top 10 alongside Atlanta further demonstrates Georgia's unusually strong position in Black entrepreneurship.

1. Tallahassee, Florida

Black-owned share: 7.6% Black-owned employer businesses: 563

Tallahassee ranks ninth nationally in the newest data, with 7.6% of employer businesses Black-owned.

As Florida's capital, Tallahassee offers access to state-government activity alongside two major universities — Florida State University and historically Black Florida A&M University.

The Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality has also created a substantial Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise infrastructure.

Its program helps businesses become certified, identifies government contracting opportunities, offers technical assistance and networking, and uses procurement policies designed to increase minority and small-business participation.

That combination of government, higher education, a significant Black population and structured business-development programs helps explain why Tallahassee performs much better for Black business ownership than many considerably larger American cities.

1. Durham, North Carolina

Black-owned share: 7.5% Black-owned employer businesses: 837

Durham rounds out the top 10.

Approximately 7.5% of businesses are Black-owned, more than twice the national rate.

Durham has one of America's most significant Black business histories.

The city's historic "Black Wall Street" grew around Parrish Street during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, producing Black-owned banks, insurance companies and other businesses at a time when segregation severely restricted Black economic opportunity elsewhere.

That entrepreneurial legacy now exists alongside Research Triangle Park, Duke University, North Carolina Central University — an HBCU — and the broader Raleigh-Durham technology and research economy.

Durham also operates Equal Business Opportunity and Small Local Business Enterprise programs and has been reviewing its city contracting practices through a 2025–26 disparity study to determine whether minority and women-owned firms have equal access to municipal business.

The city has additionally participated in efforts designed to preserve legacy minority-owned companies and expand business ownership through succession and employee-ownership strategies.

The Top 10 at a Glance Rank Metro State Black-owned share 1 Atlanta Georgia 10.7% 2 Fayetteville North Carolina 9.9% 3 Washington D.C. 9.4% 4 Memphis Tennessee 9.1% 5 Virginia Beach Virginia 8.8% 6 Baltimore Maryland 8.0% 6 Richmond Virginia 8.0% 8 Columbus Georgia 7.8% 9 Tallahassee Florida 7.6% 10 Durham North Carolina 7.5%

Source: LendingTree analysis of 2023 U.S. Census Bureau Annual Business Survey data. Only the 100 metropolitan areas with the largest numbers of Black-owned employer businesses were considered.

Notice What's Missing From the List

New York.

Los Angeles.

Chicago.

San Francisco.

Dallas.

They all have substantial numbers of Black entrepreneurs, but none cracks the top 10 when the measurement is the percentage of employer businesses that are Black-owned.

New York, for example, actually has more Black-owned employer businesses than Atlanta — approximately 17,042 compared with Atlanta's 13,091 — but because New York's overall business economy is so much larger, Black-owned companies represent only 3.7% of its businesses.

That is why the word "best" requires context.

A city can have an enormous number of Black-owned companies without having particularly strong proportional representation.

Likewise, a smaller city can have a high percentage of Black-owned businesses but fewer customers, contracts and investment opportunities overall.

What Do Nearly All of the Top Cities Have in Common?

Several patterns emerge.

First, the South dominates.

Atlanta, Fayetteville, Memphis, Virginia Beach, Richmond, Columbus, Tallahassee and Durham are all Southern metropolitan areas.

Brookings' latest analysis independently found the same geographic pattern: among the 50 metro areas with the largest shares of Black-owned employer firms, 60% were located in the South.

Second, many have large and established Black populations.

That creates something entrepreneurs cannot manufacture through a government program: an existing ecosystem of consumers, professionals, employees, churches, institutions and other businesses.

Third, several contain HBCUs or have strong connections to historically Black institutions.

Those universities produce educated consumers, business founders, professionals and networks while helping keep Black intellectual and financial capital within the region.

Fourth, many of these cities have created procurement, certification or technical-assistance programs intended to give minority and small businesses better access to government contracts and business resources.

And fifth, the cost of operating a business in many Southern cities has historically been lower than in New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles, although rising real-estate and labor costs are changing that equation.

But "Black Business Friendly" Does Not Mean the Playing Field Is Equal

The rankings should not be mistaken for evidence that Black entrepreneurs face no obstacles in these cities.

Even Atlanta — America's No. 1 metro by this measure — has a substantial representation gap.

Black residents account for approximately 33.5% of metro Atlanta's population but only 10.7% of its employer businesses.

Nationally, the disparity is even larger: Black Americans represent about 14.4% of the population but only 3.4% of employer businesses.

Access to startup capital, commercial real estate, credit, large contracts and intergenerational wealth continue to influence which entrepreneurs get the opportunity to build companies with employees rather than remaining sole proprietors.

So these rankings are less a declaration that the work is finished than evidence of where Black entrepreneurship has gained the strongest foothold.

Georgia Has Something Worth Protecting

For South DeKalb residents, perhaps the most significant finding is this:

Georgia has two cities in America's top 10 — Atlanta at No. 1 and Columbus at No. 8.

Atlanta has now occupied the top position for four straight years.

That is an economic asset.

South DeKalb sits inside the nation's leading metropolitan ecosystem for Black-owned employer businesses.

The question for communities such as Stonecrest, Lithonia, South Decatur and greater South DeKalb should therefore not simply be:

How many Black-owned businesses do we have?

A better question is:

How many of those businesses are growing into employers, obtaining government and corporate contracts, buying commercial property, hiring local residents and becoming companies capable of surviving for another generation?

Because starting a Black-owned business is important.

Building an economy in which those businesses can scale, employ people, own assets and pass wealth forward is something much bigger.

And according to the latest numbers, metro Atlanta has one of the strongest foundations in America from which to do it.