A recent report from the Milken
Institute ranks the top 25 best-performing large and small cities across the
United States in 2018
Large tech metropolises like
San Francisco and Seattle continue to make it to the top of the Milken
Institute’s best performing city list, but it is worth noting that economic
growth is increasingly moving inland to states like Oregon and Utah.
The recent report
from the Milken Institute ranks the top 25 best-performing large and small
cities across the United States in 2018, with the Provo-Orem, Utah metro area
ranked as the best large city and Bend, Oregon, retaining its title as best
small city for the third consecutive year.
The
Milken Institute’s Best-Performing Cities U.S. index provides a way to
measure which American metropolitan areas offer the greatest opportunities for
prosperity and innovation across the nation. The BPC index measures each metro
area’s economic performance using outcomes-based metrics such as job creation,
wage gains, and technological developments to evaluate their
relative growth.
The Rankings:
Provo-Orem, UT, holds steady at the top of our index, thanks to
a dynamic high-tech sector, an educated workforce, and a business-friendly tax
and regulatory climate.
Growth through tech is the reigning theme across America, with
Silicon Valley and several of Northern California’s tech-focused metro areas in
the top 20.
Outside the Golden State, tech hubs such as Austin-Round Rock, TX,
Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX, and Raleigh, NC, have also leveraged their educated
workforce and competitive business climates to generate growth.
Top Ten Best-Performing Cities U.S.
2018
|
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) /
Metropolitan Division (MD) |
2018 Rank
|
2017 Rank
|
Change
|
|
Provo-Orem, UT MSA
|
1
|
1
|
Steady
|
|
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA MSA
|
2
|
11
|
+9
|
|
Austin-Round Rock, TX MSA
|
3
|
9
|
+6
|
|
San Francisco-Redwood City, CA MD
|
4
|
4
|
Steady
|
|
Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX MD
|
5
|
3
|
-2
|
|
Raleigh, NC MSA
|
6
|
2
|
-4
|
|
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA
|
7
|
7
|
Steady
|
|
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA MD
|
8
|
17
|
+9
|
|
Fort Collins, CO MSA
 |
9
|
5
|
-4
|
|
Salt Lake City, UT MSA
|
10
|
10
|
Steady
|