The Milken Institute just released a report on the top cities for job growth.
The findings are based on various criteria including growth of jobs, wages and high tech industries. The survey also considers employment gains during 2013 and the previous 5 years to give a more comprehensive picture of each city’s economic status.
The survey breaks out major cities from small cities, and let’s begin with some good news for Missouri.
The small city with the best job growth is … Columbia, Missouri.
No other Missouri nor Illinois city made the Top 10 list for small or big cities.
A quick summary shows 3 of the Top 10 big cities are in Texas. Remember all the flak about Governor Perry in ads encouraging Missouri/Illinois businesses to move to Texas?
Two of the big cities are in California; two in Utah and two in Colorado. (Wonder if Colorado will see even faster growth and new highs (pun intended) after legalizing marijuana?)
So, here is the Top 10 List for Big Cities.
10. Greeley, Colorado
9. Boulder, Colorado
8. Houston, Texas
7. Dallas, Texas
6. Seattle, Washington
5. Salt Lake City, Utah
4. San Jose, California
3. San Francisco, California
2. Provo, Utah
And the Number One City on the Top 10 Big City Growth List:
Austin, Texas
(That’s probably because so many going to see where I was born and talk of building a library in my name. Hey, I could be serious … after all, in the 3rd grade, I was President of the Library Club!)
To add a note to make my wife happy, Lafayette, Louisiana (where she was born) made 24 on the Top 25 List of Small Cities.
So, what are your thoughts on why these areas are showing so much growth and what does the St. Louis Metro area need to do to jump into the list?