Provo-Orem leads four Utah metro areas among nation's best-performing

Four Utah metropolitan areas have been named in the Milken Institute’s Best-Performing Cities index for 2018. The Provo-Orem metropolitan area took the No. 1 spot in the index for a second consecutive year, reflecting the robust growth of high-tech industries outside the coastal enclaves that launched the digital revolution.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

St. George was recognized as the No. 2 best-performing metropolitan area in the small-metro category, just behind Bend-Redmond, Oregon.

Salt Lake City (No. 10) and Ogden-Clearfield (No. 21) joined Provo-Orem in the Top 25 for larger metropolitan cities.

The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California.

Silicon Valley’s San Jose rose nine places to finish second with the help of tech giants such as Apple and Google. Austin, Texas, placed third after adding nearly 5,000 jobs in its professional, scientific and tech-services sectors during 2017.

Following Provo-Orem and San Jose, the Ttop 10 included Austin-Round Rock, Texas; San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, California; Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida; Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City.

“Provo-Orem is home to Brigham Young University, a top technology-transfer school, and fast-growing technological and entrepreneurial communities,” the report said. Major employers include Qualtrics International, a customer-survey software firm, and San Jose-based Adobe Systems. In the five years ending in 2016, the metro’s tech-sector GDP grew 31 percent faster than the national tech sector.

“Utah’s industrious and innovative people continue to drive growth in the technology and business communities,” said Gov. Gary Herbert. “We are focused on laying the groundwork and infrastructure necessary to support this success far into the future.”

“Tighter competition for talent and rising housing costs have pushed some firms to expand outside the big coastal centers, driving growth inland,” said Kevin Klowden, executive director of the Milken Institute Center for Regional Economics concerning the Provo-Orem ranking. “Now Middle American cities are beginning to see some of the same problems — labor shortages, higher home prices and longer commutes.”{/mprestriction}