For the third consecutive 12 months, Provo-Orem, Utah, was ranked because the best-performing massive metropolitan space within the nation in a report launched Tuesday by the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute assume tank, whereas Idaho Falls, Idaho, was named the most effective performing small metropolis.
The annual Milken Institute Greatest-Performing Cities Index ranks areas primarily based on a sequence of standards, assessing their “effectiveness at leveraging their assets to advertise financial progress and supply their residents with entry to the important companies and infrastructure wanted for fulfillment.” Among the many standards are job creation, wage progress and the output of the high-tech sector, together with housing affordability and broadband entry.
“This 12 months’s report exhibits that U.S. cities proceed to drive the nation’s progress regardless of the pressures created by COVID-19,” Maggie Switek, director of regional economics within the Milken Institute’s Analysis Division, stated in a press release. “Three years after the onset of the pandemic, cities are nonetheless the primary facilities of the nation’s financial exercise. In 2021, the metropolitan areas included within the BPC rankings generated 89% of the U.S. gross home product and had been residence to 86.3% of the nation’s inhabitants.”
The report notes that the info reviewed for the rankings was primarily from 2021, a 12 months by which many cities had been starting to bounce again from the COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions of 2020.
Provo-Orem, Utah, was singled out for the power of its five-year job and wage progress and a strong tech sector — as a house to “a number of well-established high-tech firms and quite a few tech start-ups.”
Following Provo-Orem within the Institute’s high 5 had been Austin-Spherical Rock, Texas; Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina; Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee; and Boise Metropolis, Idaho.
Amongst smaller cities, the highest 5 had been Idaho Falls, Idaho; Logan, Utah; St. George, Utah; The Villages, Florida; and Bend-Redmond, Oregon.
The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara space ranked 14th, the best rating for a California metros on teh 200-region “massive cities” record,.
Subsequent was the Inland Empire at No. 15. That was an enchancment vs. No. 22 final 12 months and No. 36 for 2020.
In actual fact, all six Southern California metro areas tracked had improved rankings this 12 months. The others …
San Diego County: No. 38 this 12 months vs. No. 42 final 12 months and No. 49 for 2020.
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara: No. 49 this 12 months vs. No. 57 final 12 months and No. 75 for 2020.
Orange County: No. 56 this 12 months vs. No. 69 final 12 months and No. 61 for 2020.
Los Angeles County: No. 68 this 12 months vs. No. 87 final 12 months and No. 93 for 2020.
Ventura County: No. 79 this 12 months vs. No. 159 final 12 months and No. 138 for 2020. That was the first-largest enchancment among the many 200 largest metros.
In accordance with the Milken Institute, the top-performing cities recognized within the report had frequent traits together with a rising high-tech sector, recovering leisure and hospitality industries and above-average broadband entry.
The institute famous, nevertheless, that housing affordability continues to be a priority even within the highest-performing cities, suggesting that municipalities should work to extend the provision of reasonably priced housing to draw “younger generations of staff.”
Jonathan Lansner of the Southern California Information Group added to this report.
