Nashville named as a top metropolitan area in the country for 2023 in new report; see why
A little over three months into 2024 and the Hilton BNA Nashville Airport Terminal hotel has had its grand opening, the city has broken ground on the new $2.1 billion Tennessee Titans stadium, and plans have been announced for a new downtown venue at Nashville Yards.
Additionally, a multitude of new bars and restaurants are set to open. And that's all just the tip of the iceberg.
Nashville continues to prove it is at the pinnacle of economic growth and development, the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area was recently included in Heartland Forward's "most dynamic metropolitans" report for 2023.
Heartland Forward is an organization which aims to advance economic opportunity in the central region of the country through research, partnerships and programs. The report provides a benchmark for growth areas in the country using key indicators of where Americans are thriving and highlighting communities where education, business and government are working well together, said a news release.
"The report blends data for area growth, young-firm prevalence and employment, education, income and other factors to create a snapshot of economic standing over the past year. This comparative perspective helps all economic planners create and evaluate policies that influence the well-being of their regions," said the news release. "This ranking uses data to identify and illustrate industry trends that have influenced economic growth over both the past year and the previous five years."
The Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area area took the No. 9 spot, just behind cities in Colorado, Utah and Florida.
According to the report, the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area experienced an employment growth of 12.6% from 2017 to 2022 and an employment growth of 5.8% from 2021 to 2022. That percentage waved during 2022 to 2023 when it fell to 3.8%. Real gross domestic product growth from 2017 to 2022 was 24.5%.
The top 25 metropolitan areas in the United States for 2023
1. The Villages, Fla.
2. Midland, Texas
3. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas
4. Naples-Marco Island, Fla.
5. Provo-Orem, Utah
6. Boulder, Colo.
7. St. George, Utah
8. Sebastian-Vero Beach, Fla.
9. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin
10. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
11. Boise City, Idaho
12. Port St. Lucie, Fla.
13. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.
14. Odessa, Texas
15. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
16. Punta Gorda, Fla.
17. Raleigh-Cary, N.C.
18. Trenton-Princeton, N.J.
19. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.
20. College Station-Bryan, Texas
21. Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, Ala.
22. Salt Lake City, Utah
23. Missoula, MonT.
24. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FlA.
25. Idaho Falls, Idaho
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Methodology
Heartland Forward determined the top 25 metropolitan areas by analyzing different economic indicators and data across most metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. Metropolitan statistical areas with populations less than 500,000 were excluded.
The metrics included average annual wage, employment, real gross domestic product, per-capita personal income, the share of total employment at firms ages five years and under, and the share of employees at young firms with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
The metrics were then categorized into time-sensitive groups for for analyzing short- and medium-term economic trends in each metropolitan statistical area.
Short term growth examined yearly shifts in metrics, including growth in real GDP, jobs and wages from June 2021 to June 2022. Medium-term growth was assessed through growth in jobs, wages and real GDP between 2017 and 2022, with the 2022 income per capita level indicating the general well-being of residents in a metro, measured in dollars.
Diana Leyva covers trending news and service for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com or follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter at @_leyvadiana
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville named a top metropolitan area in the U.S. Here's why
