The Milken Institute’s Best-Performing Cities U.S. index provides a way to measure which American metropolitan areas offer the greatest opportunities for prosperity and innovation across the nation. The BPC index measures each metro area’s economic performance using outcomes-based metrics such as job creation, wage gains, and technological developments to evaluate their relative growth.

The Rankings:

Provo-Orem, UT, holds steady at the top of our index, thanks to a dynamic high-tech sector, an educated workforce, and a business-friendly tax and regulatory climate.

Growth through tech is the reigning theme across America, with Silicon Valley and several of Northern California’s tech-focused metro areas in the top 20. Outside the Golden State, tech hubs such as Austin-Round Rock, TX, Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX, and Raleigh, NC, have also leveraged their educated workforces and competitive business climates to generate growth.

Top Ten Best-Performing Cities 2018 in the U.S.

For the third year in a row, Bend-Redmond, OR is the top-performing small metro area in the nation with unrivaled job growth that began in the five years ending in 2017.

Key findings:

• High-tech industries continue to fuel growth in many of the best-performing cities, creating opportunities for highly-skilled workers.
• Low unemployment rates and a shortage of skilled labor are spurring more competition for knowledge workers, putting upward pressure on wages in the tech sector and widening the income gap.
• Top metro areas are enjoying impressive job and wage growth, but many are also seeing housing prices rise sharply.
• The national economy provides a strong base for regional growth with soaring stock markets, low inflation, and high employment supporting consumer confidence.