Vital Signs
A look at how cities and states compare on various measures of development Compiled by Maura Webber Sadovi and John Leger Illustrations by Daniel Baxter
Rarin’ to Go
Feeding the Government
Moody’s Economy.com has devised a Business Vitality Index that rates the overall economic vitality of a metro area by looking at a range of factors rather than just one measure. The index takes into account current economic conditions such as household income growth, factors that affect prospective conditions including labor availability and regional cost structure, and potential risks such as employment volatility. Here are the top 50 (out of 379) metros.
Percentage of individuals’ income that goes to local, state and federal taxes
Rank
Metro Area
Rank
Metro Area
Rank
Pct.
Rank
State
Pct.
Rank
Pct.
Rank
1
State
Connecticut
38.3
14
Wisconsin
33.3
26
State
Arizona
31.3
39
State
Missouri
30.2
Pct.
2
New York
37.1
15
Illinois
33.2
27
Delaware
31.2
40
Montana
29.8
3
D.C.
36.4
16
Maryland
33.1
28
Kansas
31.0
41
West Virginia
29.8
4
New Jersey
35.6
17
Hawaii
33.0
29
Georgia
30.9
42
Texas
29.8
5
Nevada
35.2
18
Virginia
32.9
30
New Hampshire
30.8
43
Idaho
29.6
6
Vermont
35.1
U.S.
32.7
31
Indiana
30.8
44
South Dakota
29.3
1
Austin, Texas
26
Dover, Del.
2
Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
27
Dallas, Texas
7
Rhode Island
35.1
19
Ohio
32.4
32
Oregon
30.7
45
Louisiana
29.1
3
Corvallis, Ore.
28
Naples, Fla.
8
Massachusetts
34.4
20
Wyoming
32.1
33
Arkansas
30.7
46
New Mexico
28.8
4
Raleigh, N.C.
29
Charlotte, N.C.
9
California
34.3
21
Pennsylvania
31.9
34
Iowa
30.6
47
Tennessee
28.8
10
Washington
34.0
22
Michigan
31.9
35
Kentucky
30.4
48
Mississippi
28.1
11
Maine
33.9
23
Nebraska
31.8
36
South Carolina
30.3
49
Alaska
28.1
12
Minnesota
33.9
24
Colorado
31.8
37
Utah
30.3
50
Alabama
28.0
13
Florida
33.6
25
North Carolina
31.3
38
North Dakota
30.2
51
Oklahoma
27.8
5
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
30
Fort Worth, Texas
6
Boise City, Idaho
31
Charlottesville, Va.
7
Orlando, Fla.
32
Houston, Texas
8
Huntsville, Ala.
33
Bend, Ore.
9
Note: Percentages are rounded off
Source: Tax Foundation calculations based on data from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis
Sioux Falls, S.D.
34
Bismarck, N.D.
10
Fargo, N.D.
35
Tallahassee, Fla.
11
Jacksonville, Fla.
36
Panama City, Fla.
12
Portland, Ore.
37
Fayetteville, Ark.
13
Phoenix, Ariz.
38
Minneapolis, Minn.
14
Idaho Falls, Idaho
39
Salt Lake City, Utah
15
Tampa, Fla.
40
Cape Coral, Fla.
16
Fort Collins, Colo.
41
Columbia, Mo.
State
Deals
17
Bethesda, Md.
42
Rapid City, S.D.
1
California
1,445
$12,242,425,300
18
Billings, Mont.
43
Missoula, Mont.
2
Massachusetts
368
2,819,468,800
19
Albuquerque, N.M.
44
West Palm Beach, Fla.
3
Texas
176
1,384,577,200
20
Nashville, Tenn.
45
Longview, Texas
4
New York
190
1,256,823,700
21
Las Vegas, Nev.
46
Port St. Lucie, Fla.
5
Washington
135
1,012,071,100
22
Santa Ana, Calif.
47
Colorado Springs, Colo.
6
Pennsylvania
102
777,783,000
23
Washington, D.C.
48
Logan, Utah
7
New Jersey
84
771,270,600
24
Denver, Colo.
49
Manchester, N.H.
8
Maryland
108
636,215,300
25
Atlanta, Ga.
50
Ocala, Fla.
9
Colorado
92
621,816,300
10
North Carolina
65
471,606,600
Star Power
11
Illinois
51
392,065,200
Feature films produced or partially produced, 2005
12
Virginia
79
368,409,000
13
Georgia
75
352,893,900
14
Minnesota
36
321,586,200
15
Florida
53
303,626,900
16
Arizona
28
252,161,500
17
Connecticut
31
249,616,900
18
Utah
34
167,806,800
19
Oregon
30
138,162,100
20
District of Columbia
15
116,927,200
Venturing Forth Investments in venture-backed companies, 2006 Rank
Source: Moody’s Economy.com
Amount
Rank State
Number
1
California
365
2
New York
281
3
Nevada
237
4
Arizona
97
5
North Carolina
64
6
Montana
36
7
New Jersey
24
8
Louisiana
23
9
New Mexico
22
10
Illinois
21
11
Connecticut
19
11
New Hampshire
19
Where the Boys Are
13
Virginia
18
Ratio of unmarried men 15 to 44, per 100 unmarried women 15 to 44
14
Texas
16
14
Utah
16
16
D.C.
15
16
Florida
15
16
Hawaii
15
16
Pennsylvania
15
20
Indiana
12
Source: MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data from Thomson Financial
Rank State
Ratio
Building Blocs Number of architectural and other engineers per 1,000 population, 2006
Ratio
Rank State
1
Nevada
120.2
27
Vermont
108.9
Rank
2
North Dakota
120.1
28
Oklahoma
108.8
1
Huntsville, Ala.
41.4
3
Alaska
118.9
2
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
31.2
4
Hawaii
117.9
29
Florida
108.2
3
Boulder, Colo.
28.0
5
Nebraska
117.1
30
Tennessee
108.0
4
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.
26.1
6
Montana
116.6
31
Illinois
107.4
5
Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, Wash.
22.9
7
Colorado
116.2
32
Michigan
107.3
6
Ann Arbor, Mich.
21.9
8
South Dakota
116.0
32
New Jersey
107.3
7
Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, Fla.
20.3
9
Iowa
115.3
34
Missouri
107.0
8
Sheboygan, Wis.
18.4
10
Wyoming
115.2
35
Rhode Island
106.9
9
Albuquerque, N.M.
16.6
11
Arizona
114.7
36
Ohio
106.6
10
Holland-Grand Haven, Mich.
16.0
12
Oregon
113.0
36
Pennsylvania
106.6
13
Kentucky
112.9
38
Massachusetts
106.5
14 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Minnesota Washington West Virginia Wisconsin California Kansas Idaho Utah Texas Indiana
U.S.
112.8
39
112.8
40
112.7
41
112.4
42
112.3
43
112.0
44
111.8
45
110.1
46
110.0
47
109.5
48
108.7
New Mexico Georgia Arkansas Connecticut New Hampshire Alabama New York South Carolina Delaware Maryland
Metro Area
Number
U.S. average
8.1
Source: Motion Picture Association of America
Patent Producers Patents issued to residents of the U.S. in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2006* Rank
State
Number
1
California
23,579
106.1
2
Texas
6,345
105.8
3
New York
6,075
105.6
4
Massachusetts
4,089
105.3
5
Michigan
3,913
105.1
6
Illinois
3,808
104.5
7
New Jersey
3,414
103.8
8
Washington
3,253
103.0
9
Florida
3,129
100.0
10
Ohio
3,123
Minnesota
3,034
Sources: U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, Moody’s Economy.com.
106.3
24
Maine
109.1
49
Mississippi
98.5
11
24
North Carolina
109.1
50
Louisiana
98.3
12
Pennsylvania
2,992
93.4
13
Oregon
2,366
14
Colorado
2,218
15
North Carolina
2,172
16
Wisconsin
1,987
17
Arizona
1,793
18
Connecticut
1,790
Below the Line
19
Idaho
1,611
Percentage of persons living below poverty level, 2005
20
Georgia
1,596
24
Virginia
109.1
51
D.C.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey
Rank
State
Pct.
Rank
State
Pct.
Rank
State
Pct.
Rank
State
Pct.
1
Mississippi
21.3
14
Georgia
14.4
26
Maine
12.6
38
Nebraska
10.9
2
Louisiana
19.8
14
Montana
14.4
27
Rhode Island
12.3
40
Delaware
10.4
3
D.C.
19.0
16
Arizona
14.2
28
Indiana
12.2
41
Massachusetts
10.3
4
New Mexico
18.5
17
Oregon
14.1
29
Illinois
12.0
42
Utah
10.2
5
West Virginia
18.0
18
Idaho
13.9
30
Pennsylvania
11.9
42
Wisconsin
10.2
6
Texas
17.6
19
New York
13.8
30
Washington
11.9
44
Virginia
10.0
7
Arkansas
17.2
20
South Dakota
13.6
32
Kansas
11.7
45
Hawaii
9.8
8
Alabama
17.0
U.S.
13.3
33
Vermont
11.5
46
Wyoming
9.5
9
Kentucky
16.8
21
California
13.3
34
Alaska
11.2
47
Minnesota
9.2
10
Oklahoma
16.5
21
Missouri
13.3
34
North Dakota
11.2
48
New Jersey
8.7
11
South Carolina
15.6
23
Michigan
13.2
36
Colorado
11.1
49
Connecticut
8.3
12
Tennessee
15.5
24
Ohio
13.0
36
Nevada
11.1
50
Maryland
8.2
13
North Carolina
15.1
25
Florida
12.8
38
Iowa
10.9
51
New Hampshire
7.5
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey
*
Data include utility, plant, design and reissue patents Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
