Lancaster Is Ranked 1st for Business : Economy: A magazine cites the city’s low land prices and per-job incentives. Santa Clarita places second.

Lancaster was named the best mid-size city in which to do business, and Santa Clarita the second best, in rankings by California Business magazine published Thursday.

The San Francisco-based magazine said it gave its top ranking to Lancaster because of the Antelope Valley city’s low real estate prices and its program offering per-job incentives for new businesses in the area.

Lancaster Mayor George Root, whose city has tripled in population during the last 10 years, welcomed the distinction, saying, “We’ve worked really hard to encourage businesses.”

Lancaster’s yearlong incentive program, which the magazine said begins July 1, will give $2,000 per job to businesses bringing at least 25 employees and investing at least $1 million in the city.

Root conceded, however, that the city’s location 45 miles north of the Los Angeles city limits is a drawback.

“Transportation is, of course, a big issue,” Root said. “Obviously, you have to weigh the costs of doing business in Lancaster against doing it in a metropolitan area.”

Santa Clarita’s low crime rate and lack of business license taxes placed that city second.

“It shows you can have the environmental things,” Santa Clarita mayor Jan Heidt said. “You can save the very best features of Santa Clarita, such as the hillsides, the rivers and the oak trees, and still be competitive for businesses.”

The magazine rated 40 of the state’s mid-size cities, with populations between 90,000 and 180,000. It ranked the state’s 15 largest cities separately.

The only other Los Angeles County city to make the top 10 mid-size cities was Norwalk.