NEW: Huntsville is Alabama’s best performing large city

Huntsville has racked up numerous awards in the past few years, and it has a new addition to its growing list: the Milken Institute has named the Rocket City as Alabama’s best performing large city.

It ranked no. 16 overall, with Austin, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Boise City, Idaho claiming the top three spots respectively.

What does it mean to be a “best-performing large city?”

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit organization that conducts statistical research about global issues.

It releases annual data about the nations best performing cities which are categorized based on several factors including:

• Broadband internet coverage
• Community resilence
• Housing affordabiltiy
• Gross domestic product (GDP) growth
• Job growth
• Wage growth

How other Alabama metros compare to Huntsville

Huntsville was Alabama’s best performing large metro area out of the 200 ranked, and it jumped from no. 40 last year to no. 16 this year. Birmingham and Mobile moved down the list from last year, while Montgomery moved up.

Here are how Alabama’s metros compare:

• Huntsville, no. 16 (2024) | no. 40 (2023)
• Montgomery, no. 150 (2024) | no. 165 (2023)
• Mobile, no. 151 (2024) | no. 139 (2023)
• Birmingham, no. 158 (2024) | no. 110 (2023)

Click here for more information from the Milken Institute.

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