The Twin Cities area ranks 49th out of 52 U.S. metro areas on a new Forbes list of the nation's best cities for minority entrepreneurs.

Forbes studied metro areas that have a population of more than 1 million. These cities were ranked based on housing affordability, population growth, income growth, and per capita self-employment for three ethnic groups: African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics.

Our neighbors to the east were ranked even lower: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sits at the bottom of the list.

Minority entrepreneurs are playing an increasingly important role in the U.S. economy, writes Forbes' Brett Nelson. According to the Kauffman Foundation immigrants accounted for nearly 30 percent of new business owners in 2010, versus 13 percent in 1996.

Atlanta, Georgia, topped the list-due in large part to the fact that it has the second-highest percentage of self-employed minorities. According to Forbes, a host of Hispanic and Asian entrepreneurs have set up shop over the last decade in the Atlanta area, and its foreign-born population nearly doubled to 710,000 between 2000 and 2008.

Other cities that ranked high include Baltimore; Nashville, Tennessee; Houston; and Miami.

See the entire list here.