DC, Miami, NY Most Prosperous Cities Since 2000
RENTCafé recently set out to identify the cities that have improved the most since the turn of the millennium.
by Nadia Balint
Source: RentCafé
RENTCafé recently set out to identify the cities that have improved the most since the turn of the millennium. Using common metrics tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau, such as changes in population, resident incomes, home values, higher education, poverty and unemployment rate, the researchers at RENTCafé prepared a ranking of the most prosperous large cities in the U.S. based on how big those changes were between 2000 and 2016.
Washington, D.C. ranks number one as the city that has prospered the most during the time period. The nation’s capital has seen big jumps in incomes (up 30 percent), population with a higher-education degree (up 42 percent) and a spectacular increase in home values of 135 percent. Housing prices are impressive in both the for-sale and for-rent segments, with rents in D.C. currently at or above $2,000 per month, on average.
Miami saw the second most significant improvement over the period studied, particularly a rise of 48 percent in home values, 54 percent in share of people holding a college degree and a 19 percent drop in unemployment.
Vibrant New York City is ranked as the third most prosperous in the U.S. Home values are up by 64 percent in the Big Apple, the number of people holding a college degree increased by 32 percent and unemployment is down by 10 percent since 2000.
Fort Worth, Texas; Seattle; El Paso, Texas; Los Angeles; Baltimore; Boston and Denver are also in the top 10 for the best combined value of the factors analyzed.
