Hartford Region Improves Among Nation's Best Performing Cities in 2013

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The Hartford region was the state’s only metropolitan area to improve its ranking relative to other metropolitan areas around the country in an analysis of job growth and regional economic factors in 2013 that ranked the nation’s top 200 Best Performing Cities. The top ranked Connecticut metropolitan area was Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, which ranked #85 among the nation’s top 200, an improvement in ranking from #93 the previous year.state map

Connecticut’s other major metro areas dropped in the rankings: Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk dropped to #106 from #94 in 2012, New Haven-Milford fell to #142 from #109 , and Norwich-New London ranked #187, falling from #152 the previous year.

Best Performing Cities Index Report (PDF)The 2013 Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities Index ranks U.S. metropolitan areas by how well they are creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth. The components include job, wage and salary, and technology growth.

Topping the list of Large Cities were Austin-Round Rock–San Marcos, Texas and Provo-Orem, Utah followed by San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and Salt Lake City, UT. Rounding out the top 10 were the metropolitan areas of Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Boulder, and Greeley, CO.

Biggest gainers on the list include Hagerstown-Martinsburg, Md.-W.V. (70th, up 100 slots); Tulsa, Okla., (42nd, up from 118th), and Phoenix, (66th, up from 122nd). Within the top 25 metro areas, Texas claimed seven spots; Colorado and California each had four.

The website interactive features offer a means of comparing cities in the various economic factors.  In most years, according to the study authors, the factors evaluated in the index give a good indication of the underlying structural performance of regional economics.

A nonprofit, nonpartisan economic think tank, the Milken Institute works to improve lives around the world by advancing innovative economic and policy solutions that create jobs, widen access to capital, and enhance health.