With more than a dozen municipalities filing for bankruptcy since 2008 and nearly 60 percent of economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal saying economic uncertainty has increased since the election, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2017’s Most & Least Recession-Recovered Cities.
To measure the progress of local economies since the financial crisis and amount of recovery work that remains to be done, WalletHub’s analysts compared 505 U.S. cities of varying sizes across 18 key economic indicators. The data set ranges from “inflow of college-educated workers” to “share of households receiving public assistance” to “homeownership rate.”
| Most Recession-Recovered Large Cities | Least Recession-Recovered Large Cities | ||||||
| 1 | Austin, TX | 58 | Las Vegas, NV | ||||
| 2 | Denver, CO | 59 | Phoenix, AZ | ||||
| 3 | El Paso, TX | 60 | Mesa, AZ | ||||
| 4 | Fort Worth, TX | 61 | Detroit, MI | ||||
| 5 | Corpus Christi, TX | 62 | Tucson, AZ | ||||
| Most Recession-Recovered Midsize Cities | Least Recession-Recovered Midsize Cities | ||||||
| 1 | Brownsville, TX | 154 | Paterson, NJ | ||||
| 2 | Macon-Bibb, GA | 155 | Reno, NV | ||||
| 3 | Sunnyvale, CA | 156 | Glendale, AZ | ||||
| 4 | Killeen, TX | 157 | Stockton, CA | ||||
| 5 | Denton, TX | 158 | San Bernardino, CA | ||||
| Most Recession-Recovered Small Cities | Least Recession-Recovered Small Cities | ||||||
| 1 | Midland, TX | 281 | Turlock, CA | ||||
| 2 | Odessa, TX | 282 | Palm Bay, FL | ||||
| 3 | The Woodlands, TX | 283 | Hesperia, CA | ||||
| 4 | College Station, TX | 284 | Vallejo, CA | ||||
| 5 | Edinburg, TX | 285 | Deltona, FL | ||||
Key Stats
- Flint, Mich., experienced the highest decrease in its unemployment rate, 4.4 percent, whereas Miami Gardens, Fla., experienced the highest increase at 4.6 percent.
- Edinburg, Texas, experienced the highest decrease in its poverty rate, 6.6 percent, whereas Waukegan, Ill., experienced the highest increase at 10.3 percent.
- Midland, Texas, registered the highest home-price appreciation, 77.01 percent, whereas Lehigh Acres, Fla., registered the highest depreciation at 56.67 percent.
- Enterprise, Nev., experienced the highest population growth rate, 91.87 percent, whereas Detroit experienced the highest decline at 17.62 percent.
- Midland, Texas, experienced the highest increase in GDP, whereas Reno and Sparks, Nev., experienced the highest decrease.
To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/
