San Antonio lags nation in new businesses

San Antonio ranks 64th among large metro areas for new business applications, even though it has the country's seventh largest population.

Driving the news: San Antonio had 12.6 new business applications per 1,000 residents in 2022. The national average was 15 applicants per 1,000 people.

• That local number is slightly down from 12.8 new business applications per 1,000 residents in 2021, per new Census Bureau and IRS data, Kavya Beheraj and Alex Fitzpatrick report.

Of note: San Antonio lags far behind our Texas counterparts. Austin, Dallas and Houston are included in the top 25 hot spots for new businesses, with application rates higher than the national average.

Why it matters: New business applications are an important measure of an area's perceived economic health.

Zoom out: The Southeastern U.S. is a hotbed of new business activity, home to nine of the top 10 major metro areas with the most new business applications per 1,000 residents last year.

• Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach (40.9) took the top spot for major metro areas.

Between the lines: Many of the hottest spots for new business applications also have booming populations, but San Antonio, which had one of the largest population increases from 2021 to 2022, is an outlier.

Yes, but: A filed application is no guarantee of a healthy, thriving business to follow, but at the very least it's a sign of economic optimism.