A national lender's survey says the number of Black-owned businesses in Tallahassee beats the national average.
That same ranking places North Port in the bottom three of the country's top 100, and several other Florida cities in middle of the list. Tampa and Lakeland were tied at 42nd.
Elsewhere in the state , Port St. Lucie and Orlando tied at 24th, Miami was 32nd, Jacksonville ranked 38th, Deltona at 57th, and Cape Coral at 66th.
North Port, in Sarasota County, was 98th
Matt Schulz is the chief credit analyst for Lending Tree, which released the survey.
"We found that 7% of businesses in Tallahassee are Black-owned and that puts Tallahassee tied for 14th among the 50 biggest metros in the country."
The survey shows 3.3% of businesses nationally were Black-owned in 2022 (the latest available), up from 2.7% in 2021 and 2.4% in 2020 and 2019. The 2022 percentage is up 22.2% year over year.
Out of a total of 7,828 businesses in Tallahassee, 549 or 7% of are Black-owned. That number is twice the national average. But Schulz said the figure falls short of the population indices.
"When you contrast that to the fact that about 32% of the population of the city is Black, there's a lot of room for growth."
Darryl Jones is in charge of supporting minority, women and small business programs with Leon County's Office of Economic Vitality. He said the community has lots of resources to help that growth happen.
"Resource partners like the FAMU Small Business Development Center, DOMI Station, Jim Moran Institute. And then you have lending partners like the FAMU Federal Credit Union and the Smart Steps Loan Program."
Still, Jones said he and others with Economic Vitality are happy the local Black business numbers seem headed in the right direction.
| Total | Black Owned | % Black | % of pop. Black | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlanta | 121,927 | 13,766 | 11.3% | 33.6% |
| 2 | Fayettevl | 4,759 | 480 | 10.1% | 37.0% |
| 3 | Va. Beach | 28,148 | 2,632 | 9.4% | 29.3% |
| 4 | Memphis | 17,256 | 1,606 | 9.3% | 45.8% |
| 5 | Washingtn | 113,780 | 10,486 | 9.2% | 24.4% |
| 6 | Jackson | 10,572 | 865 | 8.2% | 46.8% |
| 7 | Richmond | 23,612 | 1,805 | 7.6% | 28.0% |
| 7 | Augusta | 8,361 | 638 | 7.6% | 34.7% |
| 7 | Columb, SC | 13,488 | 1,024 | 7.6% | 32.3% |
| 7 | Baltimore | 51,948 | 3,938 | 7.6% | 28.6% |
| 11 | St. Louis | 50,047 | 3,659 | 7.3% | 16.8% |
| 12 | Charlotte | 52,238 | 3,726 | 7.1% | 21.8% |
| 12 | Killeen | 5,233 | 371 | 7.1% | 21.0% |
| 14 | Tuscaloosa | 3,567 | 251 | 7.0% | 32.3% |
| 14 | Tallahassee | 7,828 | 549 | 7.0% | 31.8% |
| 14 | Columb, GA | 4,512 | 316 | 7.0% | 41.7% |
| 17 | Florence | 3,093 | 205 | 6.6% | 42.8% |
| 18 | Greensboro | 13,287 | 867 | 6.5% | 27.1% |
| 19 | Dover | 3,863 | 249 | 6.4% | 29.3% |
| 20 | New Orl | 19,062 | 1,185 | 6.2% | 37.8% |
| 20 | Raleigh | 28,470 | 1,763 | 6.2% | 18.8% |
Other Florida Cities
| 24 | Port St. Lucie | 10,676 | 591 | 5.5% | 17.3% |
| 24 | Orlando | 58,305 | 3,215 | 5.5% | 15.7% |
| 32 | Miami | 181,486 | 9,161 | 5.0% | 19.6% |
| 38 | Jacksonville | 32,339 | 1,510 | 4.7% | 20.1% |
| 42 | Lakeland | 10,823 | 416 | 3.8% | 14.0% |
| 42 | Tampa | 69,637 | 2,660 | 3.8% | 11.5% |
| 57 | Deltona | 14,626 | 481 | 3.3% | 10.2% |
| 66 | Cape Coral | 19,122 | 527 | 2.8% | 8.2% |
| 98 | North Port | 21,703 | 290 | 1.3% | 5.9% |
Source: LendingTree analysis of 2022 data from the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau Annual Business Survey. Note: Only the 100 metros with the most Black-owned businesses were considered.
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