Probably not surprising to anyone in the Orana region, but Dubbo has recently been rated as one of the best places in NSW to start a new business.

Coming in third behind Sydney and Morisset-Cooranbong (on Lake Macquarie near Newcastle), the central west city also rated best in the cost-of-living score out of the top five locations.

Our regional centre has also jumped six points in the overall rankings, tipping out Wollongong and Newcastle-Maitland which came in fourth and fifth in the study.

The report covered Australia’s 50 largest cities analysed to identify the best places for start-ups in 2026, with the evaluation carried out by accounting software firm Reckon. The study covered 17 socio-economic factors in four major categories comprising “Talent Pool”, “Business Landscape”, “Internet Speed” and “Cost of Living”.

Reckon also ran the same study in 2024 and 2025, allowing business owners to compare results to see how things have changed. Since last year, Dubbo has risen by six places nationally, ranking 23rd in 2025 to 17th in 2026.

Dubbo is NSW’s third-best place to start a business, scoring 54.59 out of 100. This is driven by its high internet speed (84.21) and cost of living (77.26) scores. Dubbo’s highest score is for its internet speed, with the area benefiting from rapid download (294.46 Mbps) and upload (46.87 Mbps) speeds.

This gives start-ups online efficiency, supports remote work and allows them to run day-to-day without connectivity restraints. In comparison, the city’s lowest score is in its business landscape, as only 47.6 per cent of businesses survive three years.

Dubbo’s jump up the rankings was no fluke and reflected the finding that bush towns are increasingly seen as great places to start a new enterprise, Reckon CEO Sam Allert said.

“By comparing results from 2024 through to 2026, we learned that regional areas are becoming increasingly established as attractive business hubs,” Mr Allert observed.

‘’Whether you own a start-up or an established business, it is more important than ever that business owners keep track of the evolving climate and any factors that could impact how and where their business operates,” he concluded.