The Surprising Cities Leading America's Start-Up Revolution

Fort Collins, Colorado, isn't the city you think of when discussing high-tech innovation hubs. Neither is Cheyenne, Wyoming, or Salt Lake City, Utah, or Corvallis, Oregon. But in 2010, the density of high-tech start-ups in these lesser-known locales rivaled, and even surpassed, that of more blockbuster hubs like San Jose, Cambridge or Seattle.

This surprising ranking comes from a recently released report from the Kauffman Foundation and Engine, a firm that calls itself "the voice of start-ups in government," entitled "Tech Starts: High Technology Business Formation and Job Creation in the United States." Authored by Ian Hathaway, the report offers new and detailed data on the growth, density, and geography of high-tech start-ups across the United States.