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This Michigan City Ranked Best To Start A Restaurant

ANN ARBOR (PATCH) -- Launching a restaurant from idea to full-fledged operation is anything but easy. It's also a huge investment. You have to buy restaurant equipment, hire staff and obtain permits, not to mention entice people to become patrons. Luckily, a new report suggests Ann Arbor is among the best when it comes to return on investment, or ROI.

That's right — according to the online marketplace Bid-On-Equipment, Ann Arbor ranks 2nd best in the country in restaurant ROI. Here's what the authors found:

  • Annual restaurant sales per capita: $2,877
  • Restaurants per capita: 261
  • Restaurant industry workers per capita: 5,734
  • Median income in city: $57,679

As more people choose dining out to staying in, the restaurant industry has boomed. Whereas in the 1950s the restaurant industry made up just a quarter of a family's food spending, that number was nearly double that in 2017. Annual sales were at roughly $825 billion last year, and more than 1 million restaurants are scattered across the country.

The single best place to open a restaurant is apparently Arlington, Virginia, the authors found. Arlington sees about $4,500 in restaurant sales per capita each year. The city's median income, meanwhile was up over $108,000 and the area has an abundance of industry workers to choose from. Arlington has more than 7,700 restaurant workers per capita.

The authors noted that sales per capita wasn't the only criteria used in the rankings.

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