{"id":35067,"date":"2026-06-12T17:13:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wearememphis.com\/?post_type=news_press&p=35067"},"modified":"2026-06-12T17:13:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:13:53","slug":"a-national-ranking-names-memphis-a-top-10-city-for-turning-passion-into-profit","status":"publish","type":"news_press","link":"https:\/\/wearememphis.com\/news\/a-national-ranking-names-memphis-a-top-10-city-for-turning-passion-into-profit\/","title":{"rendered":"A National Ranking Names Memphis a Top 10 City for Turning Passion Into Profit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Featured Photo<\/em>: Cristina McCarter<\/a>, Zack Orsborn<\/a>, and Yo Breezye<\/a>, three Memphians betting on themselves.

Memphis just earned national recognition as one of the best places in America to chase an idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new Squarespace analysis<\/a> of more than 100 U.S. cities ranks Memphis No. 7 among cities where passion projects thrive, putting the Bluff City alongside New York, Los Angeles, and Austin. The ranking weighed cost of living, self-employment rates, state income tax, and local search interest in passion projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the part worth framing: Memphis posted a cost-of-living index of 85.8, the most affordable of any city in the entire top 10. Pair that with zero state income tax and a self-employment rate of 11.7 percent, and the math gets simple. In Memphis, creatives and entrepreneurs keep more of what they earn, and every dollar stretches further while they build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cristina McCarter, founder of Feast & Graze. Photo: Sam Sikes Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The study also tracked growing local search interest in passion projects, a signal that more Memphians are actively turning ideas into income. The proof is already visible across the city, from artists filling gallery walls to founders like Cristina McCarter, whose Feast & Graze <\/a>grew from a love of local food into one of the city’s signature culinary brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most profitable passion projects nationally include app development, 3D printing, ceramics, writing, and web design, fields where Memphis talent is already working. The takeaway from the ranking lands clean: the city where soul lives is also one of the smartest places in America to bet on yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":35073,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"inline_featured_image":false},"press_type":[18],"class_list":["post-35067","news_press","type-news_press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","press_type-online"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA National Ranking Names Memphis a Top 10 City for Turning Passion Into Profit - Memphis News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A National Ranking Names Memphis a Top 10 City for Turning Passion Into Profit Explore the latest local news from Memphis.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wearememphis.com\/news\/a-national-ranking-names-memphis-a-top-10-city-for-turning-passion-into-profit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A National Ranking Names Memphis a Top 10 City for Turning Passion Into Profit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A National Ranking Names Memphis a Top 10 City for Turning Passion Into Profit Explore the latest local news from Memphis.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wearememphis.com\/news\/a-national-ranking-names-memphis-a-top-10-city-for-turning-passion-into-profit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"We Are Memphis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wearememphis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T22:13:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wearememphis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@wearememphistn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wearememphis.com\\\/news\\\/a-national-ranking-names-memphis-a-top-10-city-for-turning-passion-into-profit\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wearememphis.com\\\/news\\\/a-national-ranking-names-memphis-a-top-10-city-for-turning-passion-into-profit\\\/\",\"name\":\"A National Ranking Names Memphis a Top 10 City for Turning Passion Into Profit - 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