Seattle Makes the Grade as One of the Nations Best-Performing Cities
The Emerald City jumps nine spots in the Milken Institutes annual rankings to break into the top 10.
The Seattle area earned an 8th-place ranking nationally among U.S. cities in the just-released 2018 Best-Performing Cities rankings published by the Milken Institute. Seattle catapulted ahead of its showing last year, when it finished No. 17.
The annual rankings are a measure of how municipalities are fostering economic development based on measures of job growth, wages and technology output. Four other Washington metro areas made the 2018 rankings: Olympia, No.19; Tacoma, No. 75; Kennewick-Richland, No. 85; and Spokane, No. 103.
High-profile corporate site searches like Amazons HQ2 competition highlight the importance of a strong knowledge-based economy, said Minoli Ratnatunga, Milken Institute director of regional economics research. Tech companies, augmented by research universities, are among the most powerful assets a metro can have in our tech-driven economy.
A total of five California and three Utah metros ranked among the top 25 in the Milken study, which is focused heavily on high-tech industry growth. The top five metros on the Milken list, ranked from highest to lowest, are Provo-Orem, Utah; San Jose, California; Austin, Texas; San Francisco; and Dallas. Provo-Orem also finished first last year.
The Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities rankings involve an analysis of economic metrics across 200 large cities and 201 small cities. The report is intended to provide a snapshot of economic growth patterns among urban areas nationwide.