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    • u: niversal appeal
    • r: egion
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    • a: mbition
    • n: eighborhoods
    • S: treets
    • C: ompactness
    • A: ccess
    • L: and use patterns
    • E: conomy
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E: conomy

Does your city function as a business and employment center, or is it more of a bedroom community?  Does your city have a recognized downtown district?  Is your city’s downtown area the primary Central Business District (CBD) of the surrounding region?  What is the level of employment density in your city’s downtown, close-in neighborhoods, and the city as a whole?

Top 10 Cities With the Most Urban Economy (2014)

  1. New York, NY
  2. Boston, MA
  3. San Francisco, CA
  4. Washington, DC
  5. Portland, OR
  6. Orlando, FL
  7. Seattle, WA
  8. Pittsburgh, PA
  9. Tampa, FL
  10. Honolulu, HI

The full list of urbanSCALE ratings for Economy for all 100 cities (10 being the most urban Economy and 1 being the least urban Economy):

Rank City State Economy urbanSCALE Score
1 New York NY 10.0
2 Boston MA 8.2
3 San Francisco CA 8.2
4 Washington DC 7.4
5 Portland OR 7.4
6 Orlando FL 7.1
7 Seattle WA 7.1
8 Pittsburgh PA 7.0
9 Tampa FL 6.7
10 Honolulu HI 6.6
11 Miami FL 6.5
12 Jersey City NJ 6.4
13 Minneapolis MN 6.3
14 Atlanta GA 6.3
15 Raleigh NC 6.2
16 Madison WI 6.1
17 Chicago IL 6.0
18 Winston-Salem NC 6.0
19 Philadelphia PA 5.9
20 Cincinnati OH 5.9
21 Sacramento CA 5.9
22 Baltimore MD 5.9
23 Phoenix AZ 5.9
24 Cleveland OH 5.8
25 Charlotte NC 5.8
26 Los Angeles CA 5.8
27 St. Louis MO 5.7
28 Houston TX 5.7
29 Norfolk VA 5.7
30 Austin TX 5.7
31 Denver CO 5.6
32 Birmingham AL 5.6
33 Buffalo NY 5.6
34 San Diego CA 5.5
35 Greensboro NC 5.5
36 Albuquerque NM 5.5
37 Tucson AZ 5.5
38 Dallas TX 5.5
39 Newark NJ 5.5
40 Riverside CA 5.4
41 Milwaukee WI 5.4
42 Indianapolis IN 5.4
43 Bakersfield CA 5.4
44 Oklahoma City OK 5.4
45 Lexington KY 5.4
46 Tulsa OK 5.3
47 Columbus OH 5.3
48 Boise ID 5.3
49 Baton Rouge LA 5.3
50 Durham NC 5.3
51 Lincoln NE 5.3
52 Nashville TN 5.2
53 Santa Ana CA 5.2
54 Omaha NE 5.2
55 Reno NV 5.2
56 Fort Wayne IND 5.2
57 Fresno CA 5.2
58 Kansas City MO 5.1
59 Wichita KS 5.1
60 Memphis TN 5.0
61 Corpus Christi TX 5.0
62 Detroit MI 4.9
63 Louisville KY 4.9
64 Las Vegas NV 4.9
65 San Jose CA 4.9
66 St. Paul MN 4.9
67 San Antonio TX 4.8
68 Toledo OH 4.8
69 Lubbock TX 4.8
70 Oakland CA 4.8
71 El Paso TX 4.8
72 Laredo TX 4.7
73 Colorado Springs CO 4.7
74 Stockton CA 4.7
75 Jacksonville FL 4.6
76 Scottsdale AZ 4.4
77 Anchorage AK 4.4
78 Fort Worth TX 4.4
79 New Orleans LA 4.3
80 Irving TX 4.2
81 Plano TX 4.2
82 Long Beach CA 4.2
83 Anaheim CA 3.9
84 St. Petersburg FL 3.7
85 Irvine CA 3.7
86 Chandler AZ 3.7
87 San Bernardino CA 3.7
88 Fremont CA 3.5
89 Mesa AZ 3.3
90 Arlington TX 3.2
91 Hialeah FL 3.1
92 Garland TX 3.1
93 Glendale AZ 3.0
94 Chula Vista CA 3.0
95 Gilbert AZ 3.0
96 Henderson NV 2.8
97 Chesapeake VA 2.0
98 Virginia Beach VA 1.9
99 Aurora CO 1.7
100 North Las Vegas NV 1.6
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