Full Rankings

50 metropolitan statistical areas ranked by composite economic health score — September 2026

# Metro Grade Score Unemp. Wage YoY Emp. YoY LF YoY DOM
1 Raleigh Raleigh-Cary A+ 73.8 3.2% +3.2% +2.2% +0.5% 59 days
2 Salt Lake City Salt Lake City-Murray A+ 72.2 3.5% +4.5% +2.5% +1.1% 57 days
3 St. Louis St. Louis A+ 71.6 3.8% +3.5% +0.7% +0.5% 45 days
4 Cincinnati Cincinnati A+ 71.4 3.7% +8.1% +0.3% -0.2% 42 days
5 Hartford Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford A+ 70.5 2.7% +5.3% +1.9% +2.8% 36 days
6 Kansas City Kansas City A+ 69.7 3.8% +7.3% +0.7% +0.3% 50 days
7 Charlotte Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia A 66.9 3.7% +4.2% +1.5% -0.7% 61 days
8 Philadelphia Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington A 63.8 4.2% +2.1% +0.8% +1.4% 48 days
9 Austin Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos A- 63.0 4.0% +5.1% +1.2% +0.8% 73 days
10 Las Vegas Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas A- 61.0 5.4% +4.2% +1.5% +1.0% 58 days
11 Dallas Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington B+ 58.7 4.6% +4.0% +1.0% +0.8% 58 days
12 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh B+ 58.5 3.7% +3.3% -0.1% +1.6% 53 days
13 Orlando Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford B+ 57.2 4.7% +6.1% +0.8% +0.2% 75 days
14 San Jose San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara B 54.4 4.1% -0.8% +1.6% -0.5% 36 days
15 Baltimore Baltimore-Columbia-Towson B 54.0 4.2% +6.0% -0.5% -0.0% 44 days
16 Seattle Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue B 53.1 5.0% +5.4% +0.9% -0.8% 45 days
17 Tampa Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater B 52.5 4.8% +5.1% +0.9% -0.5% 74 days
18 Atlanta Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell B 52.1 3.2% +3.1% -0.5% +0.9% 59 days
19 Nashville Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin B 52.0 3.1% +3.9% +0.7% -0.9% 60 days
20 Columbus Columbus B 51.7 3.2% +4.2% +0.1% -1.4% 44 days
21 San Francisco San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont B 50.9 4.4% +5.8% +0.6% -1.7% 38 days
22 Miami Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach B 50.7 3.7% +7.7% +0.3% -0.2% 85 days
23 Cleveland Cleveland B- 49.4 3.4% +0.9% +0.6% +1.8% 55 days
24 Los Angeles Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim B- 49.1 5.0% +3.4% +1.8% -2.2% 53 days
25 Washington DC Washington-Arlington-Alexandria B- 48.3 4.0% +5.8% -2.0% -2.2% 43 days
26 Houston Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands B- 47.6 5.1% +1.2% +1.3% +0.3% 52 days
27 San Antonio San Antonio-New Braunfels B- 46.2 4.7% +3.7% +0.5% +0.1% 68 days
28 New York New York Newark-Jersey City B- 45.8 4.3% +1.9% +0.5% +0.6% 56 days
29 Boston Boston-Cambridge-Newton B- 45.4 3.9% +2.9% -0.1% +2.9% 51 days
30 Denver Denver-Aurora-Centennial B- 45.2 4.1% +2.1% +0.1% -1.7% 57 days
31 Oklahoma City Oklahoma City B- 45.0 4.3% +4.2% +0.7% -0.5% 55 days
32 Birmingham Birmingham B- 45.0 3.5% +0.0% +0.9% -1.1% 59 days
33 Virginia Beach Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk B- 44.2 3.9% +5.5% -0.6% -0.9% 40 days
34 Providence Providence-Warwick C+ 43.1 4.3% +3.1% +0.6% +1.7% 39 days
35 San Diego San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad C+ 41.8 4.7% +7.5% +0.7% -1.8% 45 days
36 Phoenix Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler C+ 41.4 4.8% +3.3% +0.9% -2.7% 67 days
37 Memphis Memphis C+ 40.5 4.7% +4.5% -0.5% -0.9% 68 days
38 Minneapolis Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington C+ 40.4 4.4% +0.3% +1.4% -1.3% 39 days
39 Portland Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro C+ 39.8 4.9% +5.7% -1.5% -0.6% 61 days
40 Sacramento Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom C+ 38.8 5.0% +2.0% +0.8% -1.9% 50 days
41 Milwaukee Milwaukee-Waukesha C 36.4 3.8% +0.5% -0.2% +0.8% 36 days
42 Riverside Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario C 35.4 5.7% +5.5% +0.8% -1.8% 63 days
43 Indianapolis Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood C 33.8 3.4% +0.6% -1.1% -1.0% 51 days
44 Grand Rapids Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood C 33.3 4.3% +1.4% +0.7% -7.5% 38 days
45 Fresno Fresno C 32.5 7.7% +4.5% +0.8% -1.4% 57 days
46 Richmond Richmond C- 30.4 3.8% +2.4% -0.8% -0.9% 44 days
47 Jacksonville Jacksonville C- 28.6 4.9% +1.3% +0.1% -0.3% 65 days
48 Chicago Chicago-Naperville-Elgin C- 27.5 4.9% +3.3% +0.2% -2.5% 36 days
49 Louisville Louisville-Jefferson County C- 27.0 4.8% +1.7% -0.1% +0.2% 44 days
50 Detroit Detroit-Warren-Dearborn C- 26.9 6.0% +1.5% -0.2% +0.7% 40 days