People all across the country are starting to agree…It’s Better Here!   The Peoria area can add yet another top notch national ranking to its resume.  The Milken Institute has ranked Peoria the 33rd Best-Performing City in the country (among the 200 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S.).  The Peoria metro is up 10 spots from last year, proving that we are doing better than many other regions. 

In recent months, CNN Money and Fortune Small Business ranked Peoria the 5th midsized city to launch a small business (the 15th best overall city of any size), Forbes.com ranked the Land of Lincoln 24th best place for business, and Next Generation Consulting ranked Peoria the 16th best place to live and work for young professionals.

Milken’s Best-Performing Cities Index, released last week, measures the most successful U.S. metropolitan areas in terms of job creation and retention, the quality of jobs being produced, and overall economic performance.  It looks specifically at where jobs are being created and maintained, where wages and salaries are increasing, and where economies and businesses are growing and thriving. 

Peoria is the highest ranking Illinois city on the list this year.  Here is a look at other noteworthy Illinois cities and regional metros that we benchmark against that are ranked within the top 100:
Quad Cities IL/IA = 2009 ranking 80.  2008 ranking 148
Springfield MO = 2009 ranking 68.  2008 ranking 42
Madison WI = 2009 ranking 63.  2008 ranking 90
Cedar Rapids IA = 2009 ranking 57.  2008 ranking 86
Kansas City, MO/KS = 2009 ranking 52.  2008 ranking 77
Des Moines IA = 2009 ranking 53.  2008 ranking 25

The best performing city on the list is Austin TX.  The biggest decliners on the list were in Florida and California and the biggest growth areas on the list appeared to be from the East Coast.  For the complete listing visit www.milkeninstitute.org.

Media interviews are available regarding this latest ranking.