Boise is among the top 18 least-costly metropolitan areas to do business in the U.S., according to the auditing firm of KMPG.

The study ranked Little Rock, Ark., as the least expensive among 18 U.S. locations with populations between 500,000 and 1.5 million. Boise ranked 13th. Contributing factors in the rankings included competitive labor and investment costs, as well low transportation costs.

The study measured 27 significant areas that are most likely to vary by location, including labor, taxes, real estate and utilities as they applied to 17 industries, over a 10-year planning horizon.

City cost Index Rank
Little Rock, ARK 93.4 1
McAllen, TX 93.7 2
Oklahoma City, OK 94.3 3
Greenville-Spartanburg, SC 94.4 4
Charleston, WV 95.3 5
Jackson, MS 95.4 6
Nashville, TN 96.8 7
Raleigh, NC 97.6 8
Omaha, NE 99.0 9
Wichita, KS 99.6 10
Youngstown, OH 100.2 11
Harrisburg, PA 100.5 12
Boise, ID 100.5 13
Buffalo, NY 100.6 14
Salt Lake City, UT 101.0 15
Albuquerque, NM 101.2 16
Hartford, CT 104.1 17
Honolulu, HI 115 18

Source: Idaho Business Review