NEW YORK – Boston moved into the top half among major metropolitan areas nationwide, while the Providence and Worcester areas both lost ground, in Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the nation’s Best Places for Business and Careers.
The Providence area fell 47 spots to No. 165 from 118th last year as the regional economy lagged (READ MORE) and Worcester fell 19 spots to 139 from its previous 120th, while Boston moved up 70 spots to No. 90 from its 2008 ranking of 160th.
Honored as the Top 10 major metro areas were Raleigh, N.C., No. 1 for the third year in a row; Fort Collins, Colo.; Durham, N.C.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Lincoln, Neb.; Asheville, N.C.; Des Moines, Iowa; Austin, Texas; Boise, Idaho; and No. 10 Colorado Springs.
The annual special report evaluates the 200 largest metro regions, as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and is accompanied by a similar report on the other 179 official metropolitan areas
Besides an overall business-and-career-friendly ranking, Forbes assigns scores to each region for projected job growth; educational attainment in the local labor pool; and the cost of doing business. (North Carolina this year accounted for six of the nation’s 10 lowest-cost regions.) Not shown but also considered are indexes of each region’s cultural and recreational opportunities, crime rate, cost of living, income growth, net migration and number of four-year colleges, Forbes said.
Locally, Greater Providence – with a metro-area population of 1.598 million – ranked 145th for the cost of doing business, the same as in 2007; 178th for projected job growth, down from 152nd last year; and 118th for educational attainment.
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Greater Worcester – with a population of 787,000 – ranked 188th for the cost of doing business, the same as last year; 160th for projected job growth, down from 153rd; and 70th for educational attainment.
Greater Boston – with a population of 1.87 million, not including that of the adjacent Cambridge metro area – was steady at 199th for the cost of doing business, ahead of only New York City; and 146th for projected job growth, up from 168th last year. But the college city’s 16th-place finish in educational attainment helped boost its overall score.
In Forbes magazine’s most recent statewide ranking, issued in July, Rhode Island held steady at 45th nationwide, Massachusetts was unchanged at 36th and Connecticut slipped two places to 33rd. (READ MORE)
Additional information, including the full Best Places for Business and Careers special report, is available from Forbes magazine at www.forbes.com.
