Motivated by policy attention to regional inequalities and the spatial dynamics of entrepreneurship, this paper investigates the geography of start-up entrepreneurship in Portugal, focusing on differences between rural and urban areas. Using a rich administrative matched employer–employee panel dataset covering all private-sector firms with at least one wage earner in Portugal from 2010 to 2022, it analyses who starts firms, where, and with what outcomes. The analysis documents differences in start-up entrepreneurship rates between rural and urban places, while conditioning for personal, firm and place-specific factors. It also presents evidence on differences in the survival and growth of these new firms.
