Richmond's ranking in 2025's best-performing cities rises
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Richmond continues to be a city on the rise, according to The Milken Institute's annual best-performing cities report.
Why it matters: Since 1999, Milken's yearly rankings highlight U.S. cities with job growth, affordable housing, economic equality and other big draws.
The big picture: Richmond ranked No. 51 out of 200 large American cities in Milken's review of 403 metropolitan areas, which was divided between large and small cities.
- That's a significant jump from Richmond's No. 90 rank last year and No. 160, where Richmond was in 2023.
- No. 160 out of 200 is obviously terrible, but it also made Richmond a Tier 5 city (out of five tiers).
- Now, at No. 51, Richmond is the second highest rated of all Milken's Tier 3 cities, which makes us not only solidly "mid" — but very close to being "mid-plus"!
How it works: The annual rankings from Milken — a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank — are based on its Best Performing Cities index, which takes into account cities' labor markets, tech industry growth and economic access.
- Housing affordability, broadband coverage and income inequality are also factors in the review.
Yes, but: The report doesn't explicitly look at other quality-of-life factors people may consider when picking a place to live, like traffic congestion, public transit access, park space, etc.
Meanwhile, Raleigh — RVA's longtime Southern rival for jobs, residents company HQs and James Beard awards — is not only Tier 1, but it also landed the top spot overall on Milken's list.
- Raleigh is the best-performing city in the nation, per Milken.
Rounding out the top 10 best cities: Ogden, Utah and Salt Lake City, Utah; Huntsville, Alabama; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Austin, Texas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Olympia, Washington; Palm Bay, Florida and Boise City, Idaho.
Fun fact: Richmond once again ranked higher than NoVa, the DMV (No. 62) and Virginia Beach (No. 90).
The bottom line: Richmond's got work to do to truly be a best-performing city or even Tier 1, but we're moving up.
- And now that once again have running water, there's nothing to stop us from cracking the top ... let's aim low and say 50.