C.R. moves up in Milken Cities Index

Posted on Nov 11, 2009 by David DeWitte.

Cedar Rapids shot up 29 spots this year in a Milken Institute index that claims to demonstrate which local economies are better at sustaining jobs in a difficult economy.

Cedar Rapids was ranked 57th in the institute’s ranking  of the 200 largest metro areas, up from 86 in 2008..

Iowa City was ranked 22, up from 25th in the 2008 ranking of smallest metros.

The big shift in rankings among Iowa cities was in the Quad Cities, which rose from 148th in 2008 to 80th in 2009.

Des Moines dropped from 25th to 53rd.

The top performing communities in the nation on the index is heavy on communities with strong research or oil industry economies. Austin-Round Rock Texas ranked at the top, followed by Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas, and Salt Lake City.

 Until now, we’ve spared you the official name of the inex. It’s the Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Parnters Best-Performing Cities Index.