Yelp Releases Local Economic Outlook for Q3 2018
Las Vegas Tops The Nation For Business Growth
Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP), the company that connects people with great local businesses, today announced the quarterly release of
the Yelp Local Economic Outlook (LEO), a program to rank U.S. metro areas by the pace of business growth to reveal the health of
local economies around the country.
Las Vegas is the nation’s top urban area for business growth, according to the latest installment of Yelp’s LEO, ranking 50
metro areas over the second quarter of 2018. The next two cities for business growth—Austin, Texas; and Miami, Florida—also ranked
in the top three in the previous quarter’s ranking, with Las Vegas replacing Atlanta. Cities where openings greatly outnumber closures
are ones where entrepreneurs have spotted opportunity and existing businesses have found success.
Las Vegas’s surge to the top of the list was fueled by home-services growth, signaling activity throughout the home-buying and
home-owning life cycles as the region’s construction sector booms. Movers, mortgage brokers and specialists in flooring, masonry and
concrete, and solar installation all opened their doors at rates far outstripping business closures throughout the Vegas area. In
the first quarter, as many home-services businesses in the region closed as opened; second-quarter growth in the sector really
drove Vegas’s recovery.
No. 2 Austin’s story also is one of home-services strength, with some different power centers: pressure washers, fences and
gates, and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning). True to its foodie reputation, Austin also has boomed in coffee and tacos.
Miami’s growth, third highest nationally, was fueled by the health sector, with doctors in many different specialties opening
practices. Salons, offering a different kind of care, also boomed in the area, including Biscayne Nail and Beauty Bar. (Natalia P.: “I love this new place.”)
Atlanta, meanwhile, fell out of the top three in large part because of a decline in growth in home services. The sector remains
strong but couldn’t keep pace with first-quarter growth, due in part to the closures of businesses such as the highly rated
AHH Smart Move Services.
Detecting economic trends by measuring business growth is a technique equally relevant for types of businesses as for metro
areas. In an accompanying report, we chart the meteoric growth in businesses selling the Hawaiian raw-fish dish poke around
the U.S.
The Local Economic Outlook is part of a larger, ongoing project to surface insights from Yelp’s deep data stores to help
businesses succeed and arm policymakers with the information they need to boost local economies.
Ranking 50 Cities in America for Economic Opportunity
Current Rank City
- Las Vegas, Nev.
- Austin, Texas
- Miami, Fla.
- Louisville, Ky.
- Houston, Texas
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Atlanta, Ga.
- Dallas, Texas
- Charlotte, N.C.
- Jacksonville, Fla.
- Nashville, Tenn.
- Madison, Wis.
- Buffalo, N.Y.
- Washington
- Memphis, Tenn.
- Seattle
- Albuquerque, N.M.
- Portland, Maine
- Tulsa, Okla.
- Denver
- Tampa, Fla.
- Orlando, Fla.
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Charleston, S.C.
- San Diego, Calif.
- St. Louis
- Richmond, Va.
- Minneapolis
- Rochester, N.Y.
- Phoenix
- New York
- Milwaukee
- Honolulu
- Baltimore
- Portland, Ore.
- Pittsburgh
- Columbus, Ohio
- New Orleans
- Hartford, Conn.
- Los Angeles
- Tucson, Ariz.
- Sacramento, Calif.
- Boston
- Providence, R.I.
- Chicago
- Philadelphia
- Cleveland
- Omaha, Neb.
- San Francisco
- San Jose, Calif.
Methodology
We rank metros by the rate of change in number of businesses between the start and end of the quarter. We count business
openings and closures by when those events are registered on Yelp by users and business owners; our checks indicate that any
reporting lags are largely consistent across metros and wouldn’t substantially alter the rankings.
Time Frame
The rankings are based on data from the second quarter of 2018 (April through June). The changes in rankings are based on
comparing data from the second quarter of 2018 with data from the first quarter of 2018 (January through March).
Categories
We include businesses in the top 10 primary categories on Yelp, according to page views. Data for a business in multiple primary
categories is divided among them.
Choosing the 50 Cities in the Economic Outlook
We started with the three biggest cities as measured by number of listings on Yelp in each of the Census Bureau’s nine U.S.
regions in 2017. We then added 23 of the other largest cities in the country. Each city includes businesses within the city’s
larger metro area. For 40 of the cities, we use the metro area defined by the Census Bureau’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas. For
the other 10, we use Census’s Metropolitan Divisions. We continue to track these 50 cities — the Yelp 50 — each quarter.
About Yelp Inc.
Yelp Inc. (www.yelp.com) connects people with great local businesses. With unmatched local business information, photos and
review content, Yelp provides a platform for consumers to discover, interact and transact with local businesses of all sizes. Yelp
was founded in San Francisco in July 2004.
Yelp intends to make future announcements of material financial and other information through its Investor Relations website.
Yelp will also, from time to time, disclose this information through press releases, filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, conference calls or webcasts, as required by applicable law.
Yelp Inc.
Liina Potter
press@yelp.com
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