America's Best Performing Cities

While we’re not quite into the busy moving season yet, it’s fast approaching.  Now’s the time when many folks start thinking about making big “are we moving?” decisions.  Not quite to the research phase, but definitely trying to figure out if, where and when they’re going.  This is the hard stuff. 

If that’s the position you’re in – making the “if” and “where” decisions – this “top 25” list I just ran across at Forbes.com might pique your interest – especially if the state of the economy has any bearing on your decision.  It’s America’s 25 Best-Performing Cities (from the Milken Institute’s 2011 Best-Performing Cities index).

Is it any surprise that the state of Texas leads the list and represents with nine – that’s right, nine – cities on the list?  We’ve seen it time and again – it’s the hot spot for so many people moving for job opportunity.  In fact, the Milken report found that Texas employers were responsible for one of every five U.S. jobs created from June 2010 to June 2011.  Way to go Texas! 

Drum Roll please....Here’s the list:

1.  San Antonio, TX
2. El Paso, TX
3. Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
4. Austin-Round Rock, TX
5. Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX
6. Salt Lake City, UT
7. Anchorage, AK
8. Huntsville, AL
9. Provo-Orem, UT
10. Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, WA
11. Charleston-North Charleston, SC
12. Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, MA
13. Cedar Rapids, IA
14. Raleigh-Cary, NC
15. Ogden-Clearfield, UT
16. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
17. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
18. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
19. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
20. Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX
21. Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, MD
22. Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA
23. Madison, WI
24. Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
25. Lubbock, TX

As a little side-note, I was super happy to see an Arkansas city listed!

Do you live, or are you planning to move to one of these cities?  We would love to hear about it!