KILLEEN, Texas – The Milken Institute released its annual Best-Performing Cities index last week ranking the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) as the ninth best performing MSA in Texas and 51st best performing MSA in the nation. Out of 200 large cities ranked nationally, the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood MSA ranked third in the nation for five-year wages and salaries growth and eighth in the nation for five-year job growth.
These rankings show an improvement of three spots in the state from 12th in 2012 to ninth this year and 12 spots in the nation from 63rd last year to 51st in 2013. The study analyzes and ranks 379 MSAs, dividing them into small and large cities. The small cities list ranked 179 MSAs with a population less than 256,000 and the large cities list ranked 200 MSAs with a population of more than 256,000. With a population of 420,375, the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood MSA was included on the large cities list where ranking 51st is a significant accomplishment considering 140 of the MSAs on this list have a larger population.
“Several aspects of this report are important, in my view,” said John Crutchfield, President/CEO of the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce. “First, our three-county MSA is among the smallest in the nation and we are still able to demonstrate very competitive economic results and have improved our position from last year. Second, this study ranks us third in the nation, out of 200 MSAs, in the category of five year wage and salary growth. These are very positive trends.”
The Milken Institute produces their Best-Performing Cities index annually to objectively measure which U.S. metropolitan areas are promoting economic vitality and to show where employment is stable and expanding, wages and salaries are increasing and economies and businesses are thriving. This report provides a fact-based, comprehensive metric system that highlights the job, wage and technology trends that shape current and future prospects.
Due to the state’s technology and energy assets, Texas cities fared well in the rankings with the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA claiming the top spot in the nation, followed by Dallas-Plano-Irving at seventh and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown at eighth. Other Texas cities that ranked higher than Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood are San Antonio-New Braunfels at 12, Fort Worth-Arlington at 16, Corpus Christi at 17, Laredo at 22 and El Paso at 35.
The full report can be viewed at http://www.best-cities.org/bestcities.taf.
About the Milken Institute
A nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, the Milken Institute believes in the power of capital markets to solve urgent social and economic challenges. Its mission is to improve lives around the world by advancing innovative economic and policy solutions that create jobs, widen access to capital and enhance health. (www.milkeninstitute.org)
About the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce
The Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce provides vision, leadership and support to business and community leaders to create economic prosperity. Through the priorities set by its board of directors the GKCC works to support its members, collaborate with and support public education and Fort Hood, improve the image of the community, and bring significant economic development to the region. Currently the GKCC has more than 750 active members.
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