Three Cities Get High Marks for Doing Business : Analysis: Huntington Beach tops California Business magazine’s ratings of 55 cities of at least 90,000 population. Anaheim and Santa Ana make the top 10.

Huntington Beach has been selected as the best big city for business in the state by California Business magazine, which analyzed 55 cities with populations greater than 90,000.

Two other Orange County cities finished in the top 10: Anaheim was fifth and Santa Ana was 10th. Los Angeles finished 13th.

In its April edition, the magazine graded the cities in five areas--crime, office lease rates, business license tax, the amount spent on education and median home price.

Huntington Beach had the lowest crime rate among the state’s 15 biggest cities. It also got good marks for office lease rates, business license taxes and spending on education. It fell short only on housing costs, with its median price tag of $271,000 being the second highest of the big cities.

“Our low crime rate and business license tax, coupled with a strong commitment to education and affordable lease rates was more than enough to put Huntington Beach in the top position,” Mayor Grace Winchell said.

“We are very proud of our business environment and welcome new businesses to come and see why we are No. 1,” she said.

Paul E. Cook, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, plans to use the top ranking to entice new businesses to the city. He said he will send copies of the magazine article to corporate officers who live in the city but have businesses elsewhere.

“We are going to make people aware of the article and then keep on making them aware of it,” he said.

The magazine mentioned some of the special incentives that Huntington Beach has to offer existing and prospective businesses, including:

* The Huntington Beach Small Business Assistance Center, which helps new and existing businesses with free one-on-one counseling and seminars.

* The Business Development Team, which meets with business leaders to explain city regulations and permits.

* The publication of a business assistance checklist that lists all permits, processes and procedures for doing business in the city.

With a population of 185,000, Huntington Beach is the 11th largest city in the state, according to officials. Its largest employer is the McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. with a work force of about 8,500 at peak times, officials said.