Great article on the Best and Hottest Cities for Employment in the U.S. from May 2006 Inc. magazine. The list is broken down into small cities, midsize cities and large cities, here are some takeaways:
Hottest Small Cities (employment base of less than 150,000):
- #1 = Yuma, Arizona
- #2 = St. George, Utah
- St. George is attracting mega growth for IT and business services, manufacturing, retail, and wholesale trade
- #16 = Logan Utah
- Logan has a great base for meatpacking and diary processors, and has been joined by biotech and communications firms attracted because of Utah State University and a fiber optic infrastructure
Hottest Midsize Cities (employment base of 150,000 – 450,000):
- #1 = Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida
- #9 = Provo-Orem, Utah
- Provo-Orem is attractive for its low crime rate, and outdoor activities (attractive for young professionals), Brigham Young University is close by, and Provo is just completing its fiber-optic network
- #18 = Ogden-Clearfield, Utah
- The “Outdoor Paradise”, Ogden is working to attract fun and game equipment companies and already has a ski-pole maker, an outdoor apparel company, and bicycle manufacturer Scot USA just decided to build a production and distribution center there
Hottest Large Cities (employment base of 450,000 or more)
- #1 Las Vegas, Nevada (no surprise there!!!)
- #15 Salt Lake City, Utah
- Salt Lake has industrial banks, medical-device makers, back office call centers, pharmaceutical labs, Real Estate is picking up, and tax breaks and other incentives are attracting all kinds of new companies
Way to go Utah. With population growing, the employment base, great talent, and a great entrepreneur base, Utah will continue to compete as a hot bed for the Best and Hottest Cities for Employment in the U.S.
