Tampa Bay drops on top-performing metros list

Tampa Bay fell several spots in an annual ranking of the nation's top-performing metro areas.

• Tampa Bay dropped from No. 23 to No. 28 in the rankings from the Milken Institute.

Why it matters: Rankings are a dime a dozen, but this list — which uses economic metrics like job growth, wages and affordable housing to measure a city's success — underscores Tampa Bay's challenges.

State of play: Tampa Bay is still on Milken's "Tier 2" list.

Zoom in: A deeper look at the metrics gives some hints about Tampa Bay's slide. The metro area ranked low in Milken's measures of resilient households and housing affordability.

Reality check: Don't get too down. 28 is still pretty high on Milken's rankings, which include 200 large metro areas broken down into five tiers.

How it works: The annual rankings from Milken — a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank — are based on its "Best Performing" index, which takes into account a metro area's labor markets, tech industry growth and economic access.

• 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 and park space.