SALT LAKE CITY — A recent report from the Milken Institute ranked the Provo-Orem area as No. 2 and Salt Lake City as No. 5 on its list of the Top 25 Best-Performing Large Cities for business.
Rankings for the study were based on data from both long- and short-term growth in jobs, wages, salaries and technology output. Provo-Orem moved up five spots from last year’s ranking, due in part to the growing technology sector and high job growth rate, according to the report.
Salt Lake City ranked No. 5 on the Milken list due to a diverse, consistently growing economy with a positive outlook for the future, the report stated. During 2012, Utah's capital city added 2,600 professional, scientific and technical services jobs — a gain of more than 7 percent from the previous year.
According to the Governor's Office of Economic Development, the Milken Institute rankings mirrored a study by researchers at Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley.
The study, "The Equality of Opportunity Project," mapped the 10 best and worst cities for economic mobility in the United States. The report ranked Salt Lake City as the top city for economic mobility.
— Jasen Lee