By Parija Kavilanz @CNNMoney August 19, 2015: 1:44 PM ET
8. Fort Collins, Colo.
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"Colorado is one of the more progressive states when it comes to entrepreneurship," said Thumbtack's Lieber. "The entrepreneurial culture is definitely strong in cities like Fort Collins and Boulder."
Fort Collins, in particular, is a growing hotbed of tech startups, which benefit from access to funding and business accelerators.
Although the city scored an "A+" in overall business friendliness and ease of starting a business, there was some room for improvementin areas like licensing, regulations and hiring opportunities.
First published August 19, 2015: 1:44 PM ET
Methodology: Thumbtack polled its users in December 2014; 18,000 small businesses in its database of 150,000 active monthly users responded. Entrepreneurs from all 50 states replied, but the ranking excluded 14 states that didn't meet the threshold of receiving at least 50 responses.
