Business credit card company Capital on Tap conducted new research to determine the U.S. states with the highest chance of survival for a small business in a three-year and five-year time frame.
The study analyzed data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to reveal the percentage of startups that are still active after three years. For a company that opened in 2019, the survival rate is determined in 2021.
Massachusetts emerged as the U.S. state with the highest chance of survival for a small business. Out of the number of small businesses that opened in 2019 in Massachusetts, 64.96% have survived over three years. This survival rate is 19% higher than Washington, which places last in the ranking with just 54.6% of small businesses still running after three years.
Wisconsin has the second highest chance of a small business surviving at 64.93% on a three-year average. In this state, the chance of survival after three years of opening is nearly five percentage points higher than the national average of 60.27% as well as being almost six percentage points higher than the national average for a five-year survival rate (49.21%). 
Wisconsin is followed by South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa in the third, fourth, and fifth positions, respectively.
