The best-performing city
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Raleigh is the country's best-performing big city, according to an annual report ranking metros across a range of economic factors.
Why it matters: The Milken Institute's influential annual rankings highlight U.S. cities with job growth, affordable housing, economic equality and other big draws.
The big picture: Cities have largely emerged from the tumultuous times of the COVID-19 pandemic and "remain at the center of economic activity," as the report puts it.
Driving the news: Raleigh moved up to the top spot this year after coming second in 2024 and third in 2023.
- "It's been a long time coming for Raleigh, which has performed extremely well in our rankings for several years, without ever quite landing on top before this year," reads the report, which credits the city's job and wage growth and "thriving high-tech sector."
What they're saying: Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell said she was proud of all the work the city has put in to get to the No. 1 spot and noted that the ranking takes into account housing affordability and inequality as measurements rather than just job growth.
- While Raleigh's housing prices have risen significantly since the pandemic, the Milken report stated Raleigh "has preserved its overall housing affordability relative to many of its Tier 1 peers."
Still, the city's housing affordability will determine how well it performs in the future, Cowell said, adding she is committed to boosting housing options and increasing the number of homes built in the area.
- "It definitely puts pressure on us to be laser-focused on housing and on affordability," she told Axios.
- "I heard a lot during the campaign about how property tax increases were significant and not sustainable," Cowell added. "We need to grow smart so we aren't over-taxing infrastructure and leverage the infrastructure that we have already put in place."
How it works: The annual rankings from Milken — a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank — are based on its Best Performing Cities index, which considers cities' labor markets, tech industry growth and economic access.
- Raleigh wasn't alone in its high performance. The Durham-Chapel Hill metro came in at No. 16 in Milken's analysis of Tier 2 metro areas, up 20 spots from last year.