The Best Places for Business and Careers
Our 12th annual ranking of the Best Places for Business and Careers looks at the 200 largest metro areas, which range in size from the New York City metro with 11.7 million people to Merced, Calif., which is home to 245,000. We ranked areas on 12 metrics including costs (business and living), job growth (past and projected), income growth, educational attainment and projected economic growth. We also factored in quality of life issues like crime, cultural and recreational opportunities as well as net migration patters. Lastly we examined the percentage of subprime mortgages handed out over a three-year stretch and the number of highly ranked four-year colleges in the area.
1. Des Moines, IA
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iStockphoto
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Metro Area Population: 563,000
Cost of Doing Business Rank Rank*: 49
Economic Growth Projected Rank**: 53
Educational Attainment Rank***: 46
Income Growth Rank****: 54
Job Growth Projected Rank**: 29
Net Migration Rank****: 45
2. Provo, UT
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Tom Berens
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Metro Area Population: 556,000
Cost of Doing Business Rank Rank: 20
Economic Growth Projected Rank: 21
Educational Attainment Rank: 38
Income Growth Rank: 1
Job Growth Projected Rank: 10
Net Migration Rank: 39
