This is the fifth time that Portfolio.com/bizjournals has rated the small-business vitality of America’s major markets—and Austin is the fifth different winner.

These were the results in prior years:

—Raleigh was No. 1 in the most recent rankings, which were released in February 2009. A fellow North Carolina metro, Charlotte, was just a step behind in second place. (The recession has since hit home in Charlotte, pushing it down to 31st place in the current standings.)

—Orlando topped the list that was published in July 2007. The runners-up were two other Florida markets that were hot at the time: No. 2 Bradenton-Sarasota and No. 3 Miami-Fort Lauderdale. (Miami is still a strong seventh today, but Bradenton has plummeted to 63rd place.)

—Miami-Fort Lauderdale finished first in January 2006, followed by two metros that were then attracting record numbers of tourists, Las Vegas and Orlando. (Markets that are heavily dependent on tourism don’t fare well in recessions. Orlando is 17th in the current rankings, and Las Vegas is 68th.)

—Portland, Maine, was the winner in bizjournals’ initial analysis of small-business vitality in January 2005, in large part because it had the nation’s heaviest concentration of small businesses back then, just as it does now. Miami-Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville, Florida, were the runners-up. (Jacksonville is now 13th.)

Click here to explore an interactive that breaks down the survey, or click here to download a pdf of the results.