Austin #1 - America's Fastest Growing Cities (Forbes)

If you haven't heard, Austin is getting bigger.... 

Texas State Capitol

Forbes rated the 100 largest MSAs based on Population Growth, 2012 Job Growth, Rate of Economic Growth (gross metro product growth). They also used federal Unemployment Data & Median Salary data.  They came up with their list of the 20 fastest growing metro areas in the US.  Texas leads the nation, again!  This is GOOD for Real Estate - but not so great for traffic.  ;}

"Perhaps not surprisingly, cities in Texas — which welcomed more than 427,000 newcomers from August 2011 to July 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — dominated our list. Houston ranked second, behind Austin, followed by Dallas in third place and San Antonio in ninth. Robust labor markets, unemployment rates under 6% (well below the national average),no state income tax, a business-friendly regulatory environment, and strong population inflows all contributed to Texas towns’ high rankings."

1) Austin, TX

• M.S.A.: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
• 2012 Population growth rate: 2.8%
• 2013 Population growth rate: 2.7%
• Job growth rate: 3.1%
• Unemployment: 4.9%Gross Metro Product: 6.3%
• Median salary: $63,200

2) Houston, TX

• M.S.A.: Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
• 2012 Population growth rate: 2%
• 2013 Population growth rate: 2%
• Job growth rate: 3.4%
• Unemployment: 5.8%
• Gross Metro Product: 6.8%
• Median salary: $70,900

3) Dallas, TX

• M.S.A.: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
• 2012 Population growth rate: 2.1%
• 2013 Population growth rate: 2.1%
• Job growth rate: 2.1%
• Unemployment:5.7%
• Gross Metro Product: 5.9%
• Median salary: $65,100

4) Raleigh, NC
5) Salt Lake City, UT
6) Seattle, WA
7) Provo, UT
8) Phoenix, AZ

9) San Antonio, TX

• M.S.A.: San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
• 2012 Population growth rate: 2.1%
• 2013 Population growth rate: 2%
• Job growth rate: 2%
• Unemployment: 5.6%
• Gross Metro Product: 4.1%
• Median salary: $56,900

10) Portland, OR
11) Washington, DC
12) San Jose, CA
13) San Diego, CA
14) San Francisco, CA
15) Boise, ID
16) Denver, CO
17) Oklahoma City, OK
18) Charlotte, NC
19) Bakersfield, CA
20) Ogden, UT


Full Text of Forbes.com Article

Austin Ranked #2 in Cities w/ New & Sustained Job Growth

Best-Performing Cities 2012 
 - Where America's Jobs are Created & SustainedRoss DeVol, Armen Bedroussian, and Yu (Lydia) Liu
January 17, 2013
http://bestcities.milkeninstitute.org/

"The Milken Institute's annual index of Best-Performing Cities indicates that tech is back, especially in the world's best-known hub of innovation. The United States' best-performing metro area is San Jose, the capital of Silicon Valley. Other cities with strong exposure to technological innovation scored high in the new ranking: Austin, Texas (No. 2, up from fourth place); Raleigh, N.C. (No. 3, up from No. 14); the Washington, D.C., metro (No. 5 from No. 17); and Cambridge, Mass. (No. 8 from No. 12).

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., vaulted 50 spots from last year to No. 1, a position it last held on the index in 2001. San Jose's recovery has spread through the region's economy: For each job added in the tech sector, five jobs are created in other industries. For example, Apple has an estimated 34,000 employees in the metro area but is responsible for another 170,000 jobs in the region."

LARGE METRO CITIES:

1) San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (2011 ranking: 51)
2) Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX 2 (2011 ranking: 4)
3) Raleigh-Cary, NC 3 (2011 ranking: 14)
4) Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 4 (2011 ranking: 16)
5) Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 5 (2011 ranking: 17)
6) Salt Lake City, UT 6 (2011 ranking: 6)
7) Provo-Orem, UT 7 (2011 ranking: 9)
8) Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, MA 8 (2011 ranking: 12)
9) Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC 9 (2011 ranking: 11)
10) Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 10 (2011 ranking: 24)

"Unlike other "best places" rankings, it does not use quality-of-life metrics, such as commute times or housing costs. In the Institute's index, employment growth is weighted most heavily due to its critical importance to community vitality. Wage and salary growth measures the quality of jobs created and sustained."



Download the full report to see the best small and medium cites.
http://www.VioletCrownRealEstate.com/news/Best-Performing-Cities-Report-2012.pdf

Austin Leads Nation Again on Job Growth

The Austin area was the nation’s strongest big-city job market last month, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Among the 38 metro areas with a workforce of at least 750,000, Austin was the only one that gained jobs from April 2008 to April 2009, the bureau said. It was the third month in a row that Austin had earned that distinction.

Austin added 3,400 jobs in that period, a 0.4 percent gain, during that period.
Among other technology hubs, the Silicon Valley area lost jobs at a 4.4 percent annual rate in April. Portland, Ore., was down 4.7 percent, Seattle was down 3.4 percent and Raleigh, N.C., was down 3.3 percent. Some smaller cities also racked up gains, including Midland, up 2.2 percent, and Odessa, up 2.9 percent.

By American Statesman staff Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 11:22 AM

Forbes Ranks Austin #8 for Biz & Careers!

Forbes.com ranks Austin the 8th best place for business and careers in its latest list.
Texas' Capital City rose significantly from 47th on last year's list. Austin was behind cities such as No. 1 Raleigh, N.C. and No. 4 Fayetteville, Ark. The list was ranked according to factors such as cost of doing business and projected employment growth.


Forbes.com cited Austin's projected annual job growth rate of 2.3 percent--the fifth fastest in the country, and its relatively low subprime mortgage exposure.
For its reporting on Austin, Forbes.com spoke with the Charles Schwab Corp., which expanded its Austin presence in 2007 when it purchased the 401(k) Co. "The city of Austin is extremely business-friendly. They have bent over backwards to accommodate us," Glenn Cooper, head of real estate at Schwab, told the news site.


The top 10 cities on the list were as follows:
1) Raleigh, N.C.
2) Fort Collins, Colo.
3) Durham, N.C.
4) Fayetteville, Ark.
5) Lincoln, Neb.
6) Asheville, N.C.
7) Des Moines, Iowa
8) Austin, Texas
9) Boise, Idaho
10) Colorado Springs, Colo.

From Austin Business Journal 4/3/09