Harrisonburg Metro Ranks High On ‘Best-Performing’ List
Posted: January 24, 2013
HARRISONBURG — The Harrisonburg metropolitan areas ranks No. 22 on the Milken Institute’s annual list of “best-performing” small metro, putting it in the top 12 percent of its class.
The 2012 list was released this week.
The institute ranked 179 small metros, which include areas with populations of between 50,000 to 250,000 people. The Harrisonburg metro, which includes the city and Rockingham County, has a population of 126,000. A separate ranking of the largest 100 metro areas — those with more than 250,000 people — also was released as part of the institute’s report.
The study behind the lists includes measures of jobs, wages, and technology performance. It does not use quality-of-life data such as housing costs, crime or commute times.
“While important, those [metrics] are prone to wide variations and can be highly subjective,” the institute stated in a press release.
The United States’ best-performing large metro area is San Jose, the de facto capital of Silicon Valley, while the best-performing small metro is Logan, Utah.
While Harrisonburg’s ranking was high, it did fall four spots since last year, when it was ranked No. 18.
The only small metro in Virginia to rank higher than Harrisonburg in the most recent list is the Charlottesville area, which came in at No. 11, up three spots from 2011.
The Daily News-Record will have a complete report on this story in Friday’s print and online editions.
The 2012 list was released this week.
The institute ranked 179 small metros, which include areas with populations of between 50,000 to 250,000 people. The Harrisonburg metro, which includes the city and Rockingham County, has a population of 126,000. A separate ranking of the largest 100 metro areas — those with more than 250,000 people — also was released as part of the institute’s report.
The study behind the lists includes measures of jobs, wages, and technology performance. It does not use quality-of-life data such as housing costs, crime or commute times.
“While important, those [metrics] are prone to wide variations and can be highly subjective,” the institute stated in a press release.
The United States’ best-performing large metro area is San Jose, the de facto capital of Silicon Valley, while the best-performing small metro is Logan, Utah.
While Harrisonburg’s ranking was high, it did fall four spots since last year, when it was ranked No. 18.
The only small metro in Virginia to rank higher than Harrisonburg in the most recent list is the Charlottesville area, which came in at No. 11, up three spots from 2011.
The Daily News-Record will have a complete report on this story in Friday’s print and online editions.