Lexington, KY – Lexingtonians have some added encouragement to hang out their own shingle, as the city was recently named the seventh best locale for freelancers and independent workers by the financial website nerdwallet.com.
The study considered the percentage of the population with self-employment income, median rent cost and median health insurance cost to determine its rankings. Lexington was noted for its growing start-up culture, with 12.2 percent of households reporting some amount of independent income. The ranking also mentioned Kentucky’s Small Business Development Center as an added benefit for self-employed professionals in the Bluegrass in search of strategic advice on networking and management. Lexington had the fourth lowest monthly health insurance cost among the top-ten cities, at $154.07, and the third lowest median rent cost among the top ten, at $614.
Cities that scored above Lexington included Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; Miami, Fla.; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; and Minneapolis, Minn. Lexington beat out Oklahoma City, Okla.; Seattle, Wash.; and Lincoln, Neb., which rounded out the study’s top ten.