New Rankings of Top American Metropolitans Show that Innovation and Quality of Life are Strong Predictors of Growth

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Mar 29, 2023, 07:00 ET

Heartland Forward releases its annual report of America's Most Dynamic Metropolitans

BENTONVILLE, Ark., March 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American metropolitans that embrace innovation, invest in outdoor recreation and attract employers that lift an area's overall quality of life are among the most dynamic in today's post-COVID economy, according to new rankings released today by Heartland Forward.

Most Dynamic Metropolitans 2022 ranks 382 metros nationwide to determine those communities that are leading in categories including employment, income, economic production and the ability to start and scale young firms. This index captures both historic and forward-looking indicators enabling cities to evaluate policies impacting local economic performance.

The research also features an interactive map, which allows users to analyze the data that makes up the metros' rankings.

Key Takeaways:

Innovation hubs continue to dominate while new metros are becoming recognized for their investments in technology: The two Northern California metros, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, again rank first and third, respectively, in 2022. Additionally, the Seattle and Boston metros placed in the Top 25, with each finishing in the Top 15 for young-firm knowledge intensity – a measure of innovative capacity for young companies. Two of the nation's burgeoning innovation hubs also ranked high: the innovation engine that is Austin, Texas, has risen to fourth in our current rankings, while the Miami metro advanced from 140^th in 2021 to 30^th in 2022. The most surprising success story may be the re-emergence of two Midwestern metros that were on the forefront of American innovation in the 20^th century: Detroit, which jumped from 234^th in 2021 to 111^th in 2022, and Chicago, which leapt from 218^th to 121^st.
Outdoor Recreation hubs are still prioritized but geographically have changed. The 2021 iteration of this report highlighted the success of smaller metropolitans offering direct access to the outdoors. These areas were again successful in our 2022 index. However, the Western metros that had jumped up the rankings from 2020 to 2021 have now stabilized or fallen slightly. Meanwhile, Southeastern metros located near major outdoor amenities experienced significant jumps. Many Western metros are still performing very well, but their short-term growth numbers are not as strong as last year. One reason is that they weathered the early pandemic so well but haven't continued their meteoric growth as it waned. For example, Provo-Orem, Utah ranked 12^th last year in short-term GDP growth, up 1.5% from 2019 to 2020. However, its 8.3 % GDP growth from 2020 to 2021 was only good enough for 36^th.