El Paso Starts 2012 with Top National Rankings
December 19, 2011
safest large city for second year runing & # 2 best performing economy in the u.s.
El Paso, Texas ranked in the top spots for two national annual rankings in 2011: CQ Press’ Safest Large Cities list (El Paso ranked #1) and the Milken Institute’s Best- Performing Cities index (El Paso ranked #2). Both rankings are based on reports released in December 2011, which compare large metropolitan areas across the United States.
Each year, CQ Press releases its ranking of U.S. cities with the highest and lowest crime rates, and for the second year in a row, El Paso has been ranked the safest city in the U.S. with a population of more than 500,000. Since 1997, El Paso has never ranked outside of the nation’s three safest largest cities.
The Milken Institute’s 2011 Best-Performing Cities index ranks cities across the nation based on their ability to create and sustain jobs, and overall economic performance. Nine factors are considered in compiling the index which include growth in jobs, wages, and technology-based performance over one and five-year periods. El Paso was ranked #9 in 2010, moving up seven spots in the 2011 report. Leading cities in the 2011 index are metros that succeeded amidst one of the worst economic declines in history-- driven by weak housing markets and job losses in manufacturing and global trade.
The El Paso region is home to more than 2.6 million residents and comprises one of the largest bi-national metro areas in the world. Major drivers of the region’s economy include military/defense, international trade and advanced manufacturing—with significant clusters in automotive, high tech consumer electronics, and medical devices. Expansion has continued at Fort Bliss since it quadrupled in troop count as a result of the 2005 BRAC decisions, marking the largest net gains of any military installation in the country., As a major hub for trade and commerce, more than $71 billion, or about 18% of the total trade between the United States and Mexico, passed through El Paso’s ports in 2010.
Sources: Milken Institute "2011 Best Performing Cities - 200 Largest Metros"
CQ Press City Crime Rankings 2011-2012 for cities of 500,000 or more population
