Greenville, NC Ranked a Best Performing Small Metro
GREENVILLE, NC (January 12, 2015) – The Greenville, NC MSA has been ranked number 9 on the Milken Institute’s list of Best Performing Small Cities for 2014. Greenville gained four spots from 2013 to put it in the top 10 this year. Unlike most high-ranking small metros, it was Greenville's strong high-tech GDP concentration that drove its improvement in the rankings along with solid one-year wage growth and recent job growth.
A nonprofit, nonpartisan economic think tank, the Milken Institute advances innovative economic and policy solutions that aim to create jobs, widen access to capital, and enhance health. In addition, the Institute produces rigorous, independent economic research such as the Best Performing Cities lists.
An outcomes-based tool, the index measures growth in jobs, wages, salaries, and technology output over five years and incorporates the latest available year's performance in these areas. It also includes a measure of 12-month job growth to capture recent momentum among metropolitan economies.
Employment growth is weighted more heavily because of its critical importance to community vitality as is growth in wages and salaries because it signals the quality of the jobs being created and retained. Other measures reflect the concentration and diversity of technology industries within the MSAs. High-tech location quotients (LQs), which measure the industry's concentration in a particular metro relative to the national average, are included to gauge an area's participation in the knowledge-based economy.
The Greenville NC, MSA ranked the highest, number 3, in high-tech GDP location quotient, and also ranked in the top 20 in one year wage and salary growth.
“We are always pleased to receive accolades tied to our MSA’s performance, and this ranking validates that we are a strong economy poised for growth, and the momentum is building.” says Kelly Andrews, Associate Director of the Pitt County Development Commission.
To see Milken’s index of Best Small Cities, 2014, follow the link below.
http://www.best-cities.org/best-performing-cities-2014-small-cities-rankings.html
