POWER RANKING: The 10 best US states for entrepreneurs to start million-dollar businesses in 2020

• If you're starting a small business in 2020, it helps to be located in a state where the local economy is strong.
• Business Insider evaluated all 50 states based on past growth, diversity, and economic trends to find out which are the 10 best places for small businesses to succeed.
• We referenced data from the US Small Business Administration, in conjunction with analyses from Office Depot and MoneyPenny.
• By our measure, Texas dominated the ranking with its high growth rate and large number of small businesses. Importantly, it was among the top 10 states for minority- and women-owned businesses.
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More than 99% of all US businesses are small businesses, and they employ nearly 59 million people.

Being in a growing industry is important for your small business, but it also matters where your business is located. If you're starting a small business in 2020, it could help to be in a state where the local economy is strong.

Using data from the US Small Business Administration, in conjunction with analyses from Office Depot and business answering service MoneyPenny, Business Insider evaluated the 10 top states for business owners to succeed, based on past growth, diversity, and economic trends.

We ranked each state based on the growth-rate in the number of small businesses from 2016 to 2018. States that showed a decline in women- and minority-owned businesses from 2014 to 2016 were filtered out. The data are from separate surveys (SBA and Census, respectively) and are the most recent available, which is why the time-frames are not matched.

Women- and minority-owned businesses are an important indicator of the overall health of the economy, and represent a significant opportunity for growth. A recent report from American Express found women are more likely than business owners to identify a need within a market and start a company to fill it.

We also referred to the SBA's state profiles to provide a snapshot of what's happening for small businesses in our top-ranked states.

Here are the 10 best US states where we anticipate small businesses will thrive in 2020.