Top Startup Hubs Hold Steady As Utah And Pennsylvania Gain Ground
A recent Crunchbase data analysis shows that the largest U.S. venture ecosystems are maintaining their dominance in seed and early-stage funding, despite rumors of a mass exodus to cheaper cities.
A new data analysis from Crunchbase News challenges the popular narrative that founders are abandoning high-cost tech hubs for cheaper cities. Despite ongoing conversations about startups fleeing expensive metros, the data shows that the largest venture ecosystems in the United States are not experiencing a significant decline in early-stage and seed investments.
Researchers examine total reported annual seed funding and round counts across the 18 largest venture capital ecosystems to track regional growth. They categorize early-stage investments into three size ranges—$1 million to $5 million, $5 million to $50 million, and $50 million and up—to determine which areas successfully launch well-funded startups that secure massive follow-on rounds.
The broad findings reveal that the top three hubs—California, New York, and Massachusetts—hang on to similar shares of funding as in prior years. However, Utah and Pennsylvania stand out by posting noticeable gains across several seed and early-stage funding metrics, indicating that while the biggest ecosystems hold steady, some smaller markets are actively expanding their footprints.