The Milken Institute’s latest annual ranking of Best Performing Cities ranked Pensacola #46, up 31 points from last year. Among the Tier 2 large metros, the Pensacola MSA ranked #34.
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- The study evaluates 403 metropolitan areas using 13 economic metrics, including job growth, wage growth and high-tech GDP. Universities played a big role in boosting metrics.
- The Milken Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit, assessed 403 U.S. metropolitan areas using 13 economic metrics based on data from January 2022 to August 2023. The report divided cities into large metros (more than 275,000 people) and smaller ones.
Pensacola’s Ranking for Each Metric:
- Job Growth (2018-23): 36
- Job Growth (2022-23): 33
- Wage Growth (2018-23): 54
- Wage Growth (2022-23): 120
- Short-term Job Growth (7/2023-7/2024): 50
- High-tech GDP Growth (2018-23): 118
- High-tech GDP Growth (2022-23): 87
- High-tech GDP location quotient: 162
- Number of High-tech industries: 167
- Households with broadband: 99
- Households with affordable housing costs:36
- Community resilience: 123
- Gini index (income inequality): 97
Florida Tier 2 Metros ahead of Pensacola:
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin: 14
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sandford: 17
Jacksonville: 22
Lakeland-Winter Haven: 31
Port St. Lucie: 32
Naples-Immokalee-Marco: 35
Ocala: 36
Cape Coral: 38
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach: 40
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach: 44
For the large cities (Tier 1), Raleigh, NC secured its first-place ranking due to rapid growth in jobs, wages, and its thriving tech sector, boosted by the University of Texas presence. Other top-performing large metros included Ogden and Salt Lake City in Utah, Huntsville, AL Colorado Springs, with Austin, Northwest Arkansas, Olympia, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL, Boise, ID, rounding out the top 10.
In Tier 2, Wilmington, NC, topped the list, followed by Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Provo, UT, Durham-Chapel Hill, NC, and Orlando.
In Tier 3, Tacoma, WA. Richmond, VA, Rockingham County-Stafford County, NH, San Bernardino, CA., and Columbia, SC made the top five.
In Tier 4. San Jose, CA topped the list, followed by Columbus, OH, Tucson, Ariz., Philadelphia, PA, and Salisbury, MD
In the Small City category:
Tier 1: Gainesville, GA, St. George, UT and Idaho Falls, ID
Tier 2: Lebanon, PA, Burlington, NC and Sherman-Denison, TX
Tier 3: Walla Walla, WA, Columbia, MO and Rome, GA
Tier 4: Dubuque, IA, St. Cloud, MN and Springfield, OH
While the U.S. labor market added over 6 million jobs in 2022, with 90.7% in metropolitan areas, the growth has notably shifted from mega-cities to Texas and the Sun Belt region. The study suggests that climate change, tech job migration, and evolving remote work patterns will continue to influence urban economic success across America.
Read the report.