BusinessWeek.com Ranks The 40 Strongest Metros In The U.S.
October 23, 2009
San Antonio, TX
Overall rank: 1
San Antonio, the second-largest city in Texas and the site of the battle of the Alamo, has one of the strongest job markets in the nation. Construction, which slowed during the recession, remains relatively robust, in part because of a new JW Marriott, a Caterpillar plant now under construction, as well as school, hospital, and military projects. Employment in San Antonio peaked in the second quarter of last year. Gross metropolitan product in the second quarter was down just 0.8% from the peak in the third quarter of 2008. Home prices grew 3.1% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. And the unemployment rate in June was 6.9%, up 2 points from a year earlier. (Please see below for the various criteria used by the Brookings Institution to determine the overall ranking.)
Job growth (since peak) rank: 3
Gross Metro Product (since peak) rank: 5
Unemployment change (year over year) rank: 4
Home price change (year over year) rank: 10
Click here to see the 40 strongest metros in the U.S.
Forbes America’s Recession-Proof Cities To Retire In
October 16, 2009
Four cities in the Lone Star State make the list. The Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area; Houston, just two spots behind it; Austin at No. 6; and San Antonio in the No. 10 spot. All four cities are benefiting from some positive Texan trends.
“In Texas, it was a relatively mild recession,” says Eduardo Martinez, senior economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “All our projections are for quite a bit of growth. In terms of job creation, more people are moving out there, and families are getting bigger. The fundamentals for Texas are a lot stronger than those of other peer large states.”
Behind the Numbers
To form our list, we looked at the country’s 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas and measured them for: current median home price and five-year projected home price from Moody’s Economy.com; median monthly housing expense from the Census Bureau; cost of living index from the Council for Community and Economic Research; median income for householders over age 65 from the Census Bureau; five-year job growth outlook from Moody’s Economy.com; and, since every retiree should get some sunshine in their golden years, we included sunny day statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The figures here represent each city’s rank based on the measures above.
| Rank | Metro Area | Metro Population | Sunny Days | Income 65 and over | Median Home Price | Home Price Change ’09-’14 | Job Growth Forecast ’09-’14 | Cost of Living | Median Monthly Housing Cost | TOTAL |
| 1 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA | 5,376,285 | 17 | 17 | 7 | 17 | 5 | 11 | 23 | 97 |
| 2 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 6,300,006 | 16 | 10 | 17 | 35 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 103 |
| 3 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 2,733,761 | 9 | 35 | 10 | 22 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 107 |
| 4 | Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX | 5,728,143 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 33 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 108 |
| 5 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 2,816,710 | 26 | 27 | 6 | 29 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 112 |
| 5 | Austin-Round Rock, TX | 1,652,602 | 17 | 4 | 24 | 34 | 1 | 14 | 18 | 112 |
| 7 | Las Vegas-Paradise, NV | 1,865,746 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 26 | 10 | 25 | 30 | 113 |
| 8 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 4,281,899 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 20 | 14 | 34 | 22 | 114 |
| 9 | Kansas City, MO-KS | 2,002,047 | 17 | 22 | 11 | 28 | 16 | 15 | 8 | 117 |
| 10 | San Antonio, TX | 2,031,445 | 17 | 28 | 16 | 36 | 2 | 19 | 2 | 120 |
| 11 | Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC | 1,701,799 | 15 | 30 | 23 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 122 |
| 12 | Columbus, OH | 1,773,120 | 35 | 26 | 9 | 9 | 30 | 8 | 9 | 126 |
| 12 | San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA | 3,001,072 | 8 | 5 | 36 | 5 | 26 | 9 | 37 | 126 |
| 14 | Jacksonville, FL | 1,313,228 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 32 | 34 | 13 | 15 | 129 |
| 15 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 3,229,878 | 22 | 14 | 21 | 10 | 13 | 22 | 29 | 131 |
| 16 | Denver-Aurora, CO /1 | 2,506,626 | 7 | 16 | 27 | 22 | 12 | 23 | 25 | 132 |
| 16 | Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA | 2,109,832 | 3 | 7 | 20 | 14 | 27 | 30 | 31 | 132 |
| 18 | Indianapolis-Carmel, IN | 1,715,459 | 31 | 34 | 3 | 27 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 135 |
| 19 | Pittsburgh, PA | 2,351,192 | 40 | 38 | 5 | 4 | 28 | 20 | 1 | 136 |
| 20 | Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN | 2,155,137 | 35 | 33 | 4 | 19 | 36 | 5 | 7 | 139 |
| 21 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 4,115,871 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 24 | 7 | 31 | 34 | 142 |
| 22 | Nashville-Davidson- Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN |
1,550,733 | 28 | 25 | 19 | 30 | 15 | 27 | 5 | 149 |
| 22 | Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI | 4,425,110 | 34 | 31 | 2 | 7 | 40 | 21 | 14 | 149 |
| 22 | Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI | 9,569,624 | 32 | 21 | 26 | 6 | 20 | 18 | 26 | 149 |
| 25 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 4,274,531 | 9 | 3 | 40 | 2 | 23 | 36 | 38 | 151 |
| 26 | Orlando-Kissimmee, FL | 2,054,574 | 9 | 29 | 13 | 39 | 6 | 37 | 19 | 152 |
| 27 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 3,344,813 | 39 | 6 | 37 | 1 | 8 | 33 | 33 | 157 |
| 27 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 1,819,198 | 9 | 2 | 39 | 3 | 24 | 40 | 40 | 157 |
| 29 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 1,658,292 | 13 | 11 | 28 | 38 | 22 | 26 | 20 | 158 |
| 29 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | 5,414,772 | 6 | 37 | 22 | 40 | 25 | 1 | 27 | 158 |
| 31 | Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH | 2,088,291 | 37 | 40 | 1 | 25 | 37 | 16 | 3 | 159 |
| 31 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA | 12,872,808 | 4 | 12 | 33 | 15 | 21 | 39 | 35 | 159 |
| 33 | Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA | 2,207,462 | 38 | 32 | 31 | 11 | 19 | 7 | 24 | 162 |
| 34 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 5,838,471 | 28 | 39 | 30 | 8 | 29 | 17 | 21 | 172 |
| 35 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 5,358,130 | 28 | 1 | 34 | 16 | 18 | 38 | 39 | 174 |
| 36 | Baltimore-Towson, MD | 2,667,117 | 26 | 13 | 32 | 18 | 31 | 32 | 28 | 180 |
| 37 | Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA | 1,596,611 | 22 | 36 | 29 | 13 | 35 | 29 | 17 | 181 |
| 38 | Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH | 4,522,858 | 22 | 19 | 35 | 12 | 33 | 35 | 36 | 192 |
| 39 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 1,549,308 | 32 | 23 | 25 | 37 | 38 | 28 | 11 | 194 |
| 40 | New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA | 19,006,798 | 22 | 20 | 38 | 31 | 39 | 24 | 32 | 206 |
