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Best Small Places for Business and Careers Sep. 2nd, 2008 Companies in the U.S. are facing a myriad of challenges, from the credit crunch to soaring commodity prices to corporate tax rates. In Forbes 10th annual ranking of the Best Small Places for Business and Careers, Yuma ranked 116th out of 200 small metro areas. Common themes for the business-welcoming metros include solid job growth, an educated labor supply and low business costs.
Economy.com supplied data on five-year historical job and income growth as well as migration trends. They also incorporated their business cost index, which looks at labor, tax, energy, office space costs and the living cost index, which factors in housing, transportation, food and other household expenditures. The remainder of the data for the rankings was furnished by demographer Bertrand Sperling. He provided statistics on crime, educational attainment, presence of four-year colleges and an index on cultural and recreational opportunities.
Rankings cover the 200 metro areas as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and are based on nine factors:
1. Colleges – based on 4-year colleges in area with extra credit for highly rated schools
2. Cost of Doing Business – based on cost of labor, energy, taxes and office space
3. Cost of Living – based on cost of housing, utilities, transportation and other expenditures
4. Crime Rate – crimes per 100,000 residents
5. Culture and Leisure – based on museums, theaters, golf course, sports teams and other activities
6. Educational Attainment – share of population over age 25 with a bachelor’s degree or higher
7. Income Growth – 5 year annualized figures
8. Job Growth – 5 year annualized figures
9. Net Migration – 5 year annualized figures
Yuma’s rank in each of the factors was:
1. 145th in Colleges
2. 103rd in Cost of Doing Business
3. 144th in Cost of Living
4. 113th in Crime Rate
5. 41st in Culture and Leisure
6. 172nd – in Educational Attainment
7. 102nd in Income Growth
8. 6th in Job Growth
9. 15th in Net Migration
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