CRI

FORT WAYNE AREA
RANKINGS AND RATINGS

There are a variety of studies that rank cities or areas and few of those are summarized below. In many cases, we have included the Fort Wayne area's rank with that of 14 other communities which have some similarities with this area.

Included below are the
Milken Institute's Best Performing Cities
Forbes' Best Place to do Business
Per Capita Income (BEA)
Average Annual Income (BLS)
Cost of Living (Council for Community and Economic Research (previous known as ACCRA)

MILKEN INSTITUTE 2005 BEST PERFORMING CITIES

Milken Best Performing Cities 2005: Where America's Jobs Are Created and Sustained
Metro Area
2005 Rank
2004 Rank
1-Yr Relative High Tech GDP
Overall Index
     
2004 Value
Rank
  
Madison, WI
35
43
101.8
43
332.3
Nashville, TN
52
68
101.1
63
415.0
Des Moines, IA
62
44
103.7
25
441.3
Lexington-Fayette, KY
97
145
97.3
160
573.1
Indianapolis, IN
104
60
99.3
112
598.7
Chattanooga, TN-GA
112
83
100.6
80
624.5
Evansville, IN-KY
145
161
95.9
180
746.3
South Bend-, IN-MI
148
97
96.0
179
748.5
Peoria, IL
168
190
99.9
97
808.8
Kalamazoo, MI
169
170
86.8
200
808.9
Fort Wayne, IN
175
191
101.4
52
825.9
Dayton, OH
187
188
97.8
149
919.4
Rockford, IL
190
200
99.3
111
945.0
Grand Rapids- MI
193
143
96.5
173
964.2
Toledo, OH
196
195
96.8
166
989.1
There were 200 MSAs in this study.
The 2004 ranking for Fort Wayne MSA was based on calculations for the old 6-county MSA definition. Milken used the current 3-county defintion in 2005.
In 2005, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville Florida was ranked #1 with an overall index of 100. Flint Michigan was the lowest at rank 200 with a 1050.9 index.
The names of the MSAs have been abbreviated. For a complete list of the areas involved, contact CRI.
This list is available at the Milken Best Cities web site.

Information about this study: Two hundred of the largest metro areas are ranked on the basis of the following factors:
  • 5-yr job growth
  • 1-yr job growth
  • 5-yr wages & salary growth
  • 1-yr wages & salary growth
  • 5-yr relative high tech GDP growth
  • 1-yr relative high tech GDP growth in high tech GDP location quotient (LQ)
  • the number of high tech GDP LQs over 1
The 1-yr high tech GDP growth for each MSA is identified in the chart as a specially highlighted area.

Forbes Best Places For Business And Careers

FORBES BEST PLACES FOR BUSINESS AND CAREERS 2007
MSA
Overall Rank
Cost of Doing Business1.
Job Growth2.
Educational Attainment3.
Des Moines, IA
4
49
64
50
Nashville, TN
9
42
47
82
Indianapolis, IN
27
63
102
63
Lexington-Fayette, KY
30
40
120
38
Madison, WI
73
128
57
11
FORT WAYNE
94
13
131
143
Chattanooga
108
24
109
158
South Bend-Mish, IN-MI
114
28
151
139
Peoria, IL
115
53
135
147
Evansville, IN
116
30
154
172
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
126
51
169
128
Dayton, OH
150
90
191
120
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI
154
116
173
66
Toledo, OH
189
99
181
141
Rockford, IL
191
89
179
163
There were 200 MSAs in this study. Rank #1 went to Raleigh, N.C, and the lowest ranking was held by Salinas, Ca.
1. Cost of Doing Business based on cost of labor, energy, taxes, and office space.
2. Job Growth is a 5-year annualized figure.
3. Educational Attainment is based on the share of population over age 25 with a bachelor's degree or better.

Per Capita Income

PER CAPITA INCOME
MSA 2001 2002 2003 2004
Madison, WI
33,735
34,710
35,554
37,447
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
32,270
33,519
34,326
36,384
Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
32,507
33,013
33,631
35,266
Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, TN
31,440
32,180
33,354
34,904
Lexington-Fayette, KY
30,434
30,683
31,319
32,722
Peoria, IL
28,588
28,816
29,912
31,632
Evansville, IN-KY
27,988
28,965
30,044
31,435
Dayton, OH
29,160
29,747
30,385
31,387
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI (MSA)
28,767
28,839
29,926
30,739
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI
27,374
28,245
29,324
30,704
Toledo, OH
27,878
28,696
29,914
30,599
FORT WAYNE, IN
28,597
29,204
29,212
30,214
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI
27,075
27,955
29,228
30,070
Chattanooga, TN-GA
27,215
27,741
28,519
29,912
Rockford, IL
26,647
27,058
27,723
28,008
         

Average Annual Pay

AVERAGE ANNUAL PAY (BLS)
MSA
2002
2003
2004
2005
Peoria, IL    33,989 35,131 37,182 39,871
Indianapolis, IN    36,687 37,326 38,968 39,830
Des Moines IA    35,350 36,873 38,499 39,760
Nashville TN    34,774 36,027 37,394 38,753
Madison, WI    34,761 35,965 37,250 38,210
Dayton, OH    34,807 35,851 36,996 37,922
Grand Rapids, MI    34,660 35,632 36,302 36,941
Lexington-Fayette, KY    33,523 34,602 36,051 36,683
Kalamazoo, MI    34,031 36,013 36,113 36,042
Toledo, OH    33,297 34,499 35,122 35,848
Rockford, IL    33,038 33,660 34,150 35,652
Evansville, IN-KY    32,277 33,085 34,388 35,302
Fort Wayne, IN    32,743 33,397 34,204 34,717
South Bend-Mish IN-MI    31,525 32,561 33,812 34,086
Chattanooga, TN-GA    30,536 31,834 32,701 33,743
         

Cost of Living

COST OF LIVING 4th Quarter 2006

*The Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER)'s Cost of Living Index is based on the prices of more than 60 goods and services, updated quarterly. Also known as the ACCRA COLI, this index is highly regarded as the most accurate and reliable source of data comparing costs from city to city.
Due to license agreements, only 5 areas can be used on this site.

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