Entrepreneurial growth is surging in U.S. states and cities, reports the Kauffman Foundation in its 2016 Index of Growth Entrepreneurship. While still showing long-term decline, entrepreneurship is on the rise.

The index reports that entrepreneurial business growth rose for the third year in a row, indicating that business growth has largely recovered from the Great Recession slump. Driving the growth are startups that are growing faster in their first five years and more companies reaching the scale of medium-sized or larger.

"Growth entrepreneurship directly contributes to the economy through creating jobs, innovation and wealth," says Arnobio Morelix, senior research analyst at the Kauffman Foundation. "The fact that 39 states and 34 of the United States’ 40 largest metro areas experienced an increase in growth entrepreneurship holds promise for a return to economic vibrancy after the long-lasting impact of the Great Recession."

Kauffman’s entrepreneurship growth trends rely on three composite indicators to measure business revenue and job growth—the rate of startup growth, the share of scaleups and high-growth company density. Growth entrepreneurship data for the 40 largest U.S. metropolitan areas was benchmarked against the national average. Cities with the most growth entrepreneurship activity spread widely around the United States, with entrepreneurship growing in certain pockets of virtually every region: the Midwest, the South and the East and West Coasts.

Most of the metros considered “usual suspects” for growth, including Austin, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, performed very well. But top performers also included Washington, D.C.; Nashville, Tennessee; Columbus, Ohio; and other metros not typically noted for entrepreneurship. The top five ranked metros were Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; San Jose, California; Columbus, Ohio; and Nashville, Tennessee.

In compiling the index, Kauffman grouped the largest 25 and smallest 25 states by population. Virginia took first place in growth entrepreneurship activity among the 25 largest states, followed by Maryland, Arizona, Massachusetts and Texas. Notably, two of the top states include the highly entrepreneurial Washington, D.C., metro area. Among the 25 smallest states, Utah led growth entrepreneurship activity, followed by New Hampshire, Delaware, North Dakota and Oklahoma.

More data from the 2016 Index of Growth Entrepreneurship is available here.