Colorado Springs cracked the top 10 in the Milken Institute‘s annual best-performing cities list, placing ahead of both Denver and the Springs’ U.S. Space Command rival, Huntsville, Ala.
The Springs is ranked ninth in the latest listing, up from 17th last year and the highest spot the city has reached in the 23 years the California-based think tank has conducted the ranking of economic performance. Colorado Springs has advanced steadily up the best-performing cities list from 90th in 2018 to 58th in 2019 and 36th in 2020, with much of the gains coming in high-technology economic output and wage growth. The ranking covers 200 large cities and 201 small cities.
This year’s ranking is the first to include economic and other data measured during the COVID-19 pandemic, which “fundamentally altered the way we live and work,” Kevin Klowden, executive director of the institute’s Center for Regional Economics and California Center, said in a news release. “When comparing urban areas, access to opportunity is an essential consideration, especially in light of the growing inequalities made apparent by the pandemic.”
The institute gave Colorado Springs high marks for broadband access, job growth in the past five years and growth in high-technology output. The city ranked in the top half of every category but one, ranking 150th of 200 in housing affordability as both apartment rents and home prices surged during the pandemic. However, the institute said Colorado Springs has attracted software and technology companies with a “low cost of doing business, low cost of living and availability of highly skilled workers.”
Colorado Springs also drew kudos from the institute for “an impressive number of defense corporations and bases,” which employ about 20% of the city’s workforce. Colorado Springs-based government contractor Bluestaq is a good example — the company is hiring 585 people during the next eight years to complete a U.S. Space Force contract. The institute listed University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Colorado College as assets, supplying “talented graduates” to the Colorado Springs area, but listed competition with Denver for talent and investment as a liability.
“This ranking is a testament to Colorado Springs’ resilience and economic recovery as we emerge from the global pandemic. We know that we have emerged from the pandemic more favorably than the rest of the state and nation,” Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said Monday in an email. “Much of this success is due to our years-long concentration on economic development, which has brought both new development and expansion, especially in the areas of technology, medicine and defense.”
Huntsville ranked three places behind Colorado Springs at 12th, while Denver was 14th on the list. Among other Colorado cities, Boulder ranked 41st, Fort Collins ranked 43rd and Greeley was tied for 101st among large cities. Pueblo ranked 63rd and Grand Junction finished tied for 121st on the small city list.
The institute calculated the rankings using data on job creation, wage growth, technology industry output and concentration, high-speed internet access and housing affordability. As a result, cities in the Rocky Mountain region moved up in the rankings, reflecting employers moving operations from large coastal cities like New York and Los Angeles to more affordable metro areas in the West.
Utah cities located 125 miles apart from each other head both lists — Provo tops the large city list, while Logan tops the small city list.
