coworkingcafe.com<\/a>, earning 59 points and distinguishing itself with the biggest jump in educational attainment (plus-9%) and a sharp rise in exports (plus-40%).<\/p>\nThe city also posted steady advances across other fundamentals \u2014 GDP (plus-36%), housing (plus-12%) and employment \u2014 underscoring a broad-based expansion.<\/p>\n
Local higher-ed growth is part of the story. Texas A&M is building a research and innovation hub downtown that builds human capital and align with employers\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n
TCU and Texas Wesleyan are also expanding offerings in workforce development. The momentum has lured UT Arlington to west Fort Worth. Construction on UTA West is underway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorkforce is the new currency of economic development,\u201d said Steven Pedigo, professor of practice and director of the LBJ Urban Lab at the University of Texas. \u201cCities that are serious about long-term growth are investing in talent \u2014 not just attracting it, but cultivating it through aligned education, training and upskilling strategies,\u201d<\/p>\n
America\u2019s growth map is being redrawn. Business activity, rising incomes, new infrastructure, and population gains are lifting cities across the country, and it\u2019s not just the usual suspects. Innovation, tech, shifting labor markets, and global trade realignments are moving the bull\u2019s-eye.<\/p>\n
Coworkingcafe examined numbers on GDP, jobs, housing, exports, and infrastructure from 2019-23 to identify the cities making trends. The firm grouped standouts by size\u2014small (under 250k), mid (250k\u2013500k), and large (500k-plus).<\/p>\n
The ranking assessed Fort Worth\u2019s status among large cities across a mix of productivity, employment, and investment indicators. Fort Worth\u2019s combination of workforce development and trade expansion placed it alongside some of the nation\u2019s fastest-rising markets.<\/p>\n
Austin topped the list with 61 points on the strength of a 51% surge in GDP, rapid job creation in tech, manufacturing and professional services, a 12% increase in housing stock, and a 4% rise in educational attainment. Median earnings climbed 33% and new business applications jumped 71%, helping push the region\u2019s GDP above $248 billion in 2023. Major projects like the voter-approved Project Connect transit overhaul signal long-term infrastructure investment, even as big-tech hiring and housing demand show signs of cooling.<\/p>\n
Sacramento finished second, fueled by a 166% spike in new business applications, a 32% gain in median earnings (from $35,954 to $47,441), and 20% employment growth in both construction and manufacturing. Local initiatives \u2014 from the Business Solutions Center\u2019s microgrants and fee relief to the SizeUp Sacramento analytics platform \u2014 are arming small firms with actionable data.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville ranked third on the back of a 9% population increase (about 14,000 new residents between mid-2022 and mid-2023), 43% GDP growth, 10% housing development, and 25% export gains. Heavy investment in airports, roads and drainage, along with downtown riverfront office projects, reflects corporate confidence; logistics anchor JAXPORT contributes more than $31 billion annually and supports 138,500 jobs.<\/p>\n
Phoenix (grouped with Mesa) took fourth with 59 points, leading the infrastructure category on a 26% increase in total roadway miles and showing 42% GDP growth and a 12% boost in median earnings. A $29.5 million land purchase in the Rio Salado corridor \u2014 part of the Rio Reimagined plan \u2014 highlights its long-range development focus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another survey has taken note of Fort Worth\u2019s rise as a U.S. economic power center. Fort Worth placed…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":57440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,13087,12613,79,264,7371,11095,7372,31647,7065,5173,2426,420,358,7453,3187,67,586,132,5230,99547,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-175040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-data-analysis","10":"tag-economic-development","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-exports","13":"tag-fort-worth","14":"tag-fort-worth-inc-staff","15":"tag-fortworth","16":"tag-gdp","17":"tag-housing","18":"tag-infrastructure","19":"tag-innovation","20":"tag-jobs","21":"tag-texas","22":"tag-top-story","23":"tag-tx","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-united-states-of-america","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","28":"tag-urban-economy","29":"tag-us","30":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115090957547690189","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}