The Most and Least Prosperous Cities in America in 2023
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Which cities are set to thrive in the new year, and which will lag behind? Our analysts dove into the data to determine which cities are set up for success (and which definitely aren’t) in 2023. Hold tight: The findings may surprise you.
To find America’s most and least prosperous cities, our data analysts at MyEListing.com analyzed six metrics indicating success for the most populous cities across the US, including population growth changes, home value changes, and income changes between 2017 and 2021, in addition to current unemployment, poverty, and education rates.
To make it easy, we narrowed it down into 2 lists that you can check out below: the top 25 most prosperous and least prosperous cities in 2023.
Looking through the lists, there are some obvious trends emerging. Here they are, broken down below, by list.
Of the top 25 most prosperous cities:
- The South dominates as the region with some of the most prosperous cities, with 10 of the most prosperous metro areas located in southern states. Three of them call Florida home.
- The Mountain West also thrives, with 7 regional cities topping the list. Both Utah and Colorado have 3 cities each that make the final cut.
Let’s take a closer look at the data below.
The Top 25 Most Prosperous Cities in America, Ranked
These are the top 25 most prosperous cities in the country, according to our findings.
| Best Rank | Metro | Population Change | Median Household Income Change | Value of Owner Occupied Homes Change | 2022 Unemployment Rate | Bachelor Degree or Higher | Population in Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Provo-Orem, UT | 10% | 23% | 55% | 1.9% | 46% | 8% |
| 2 | Boise City, ID | 9% | 33% | 87% | 2.5% | 36% | 10% |
| 3 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR | 7% | 28% | 40% | 2.1% | 33% | 10% |
| 4 | Huntsville, AL | 9% | 25% | 20% | 2.0% | 43% | 10% |
| 5 | Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX | 9% | 17% | 40% | 2.8% | 50% | 10% |
| 6 | North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL | 5% | 23% | 33% | 2.6% | 37% | 9% |
| 7 | Sioux Falls, SD | 7% | 17% | 32% | 1.7% | 37% | 8% |
| 8 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT | 3% | 30% | 28% | 2.0% | 51% | 11% |
| 9 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 3% | 24% | 45% | 3.4% | 47% | 9% |
| 10 | Salt Lake City, UT | 5% | 14% | 51% | 2.0% | 36% | 8% |
| 11 | Ogden-Clearfield, UT | 5% | 14% | 57% | 2.0% | 33% | 8% |
| 12 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | 7% | 18% | 42% | 3.2% | 51% | 10% |
| 13 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | 4% | 18% | 41% | 2.6% | 38% | 11% |
| 14 | Nashville-Davidson, TN | 7% | 14% | 42% | 2.6% | 40% | 11% |
| 15 | Bend, OR | 8% | 20% | 48% | 4.4% | 41% | 8% |
| 16 | Jacksonville, FL | 8% | 16% | 82% | 2.5% | 35% | 12% |
| 17 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs, GA | 4% | 19% | 39% | 2.7% | 42% | 12% |
| 18 | Fort Collins, CO | 5% | 13% | 265% | 2.8% | 52% | 12% |
| 19 | Colorado Springs, CO | 5% | 20% | 45% | 3.6% | 42% | 9% |
| 20 | Portland-South Portland, ME | 4% | 15% | 38% | 2.9% | 45% | 8% |
| 21 | Greeley, CO | 9% | 24% | 108% | 3.5% | 32% | 10% |
| 22 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 3% | 14% | 30% | 1.9% | 45% | 8% |
| 23 | Athens-Clarke County, GA | 3% | 28% | 43% | 2.5% | 45% | 17% |
| 24 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | 4% | 24% | 38% | 2.6% | 33% | 11% |
| 25 | Kansas City, MO-KS | 3% | 17% | 37% | 2.5% | 39% | 10% |
Of the top 25 least prosperous cities, the south, surprisingly, is the region with the highest number of struggling cities, with 14 of them located in the area.
Although Texas has one of the most prosperous metro areas (that would be #5 Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown), the state has the highest number of cities on the least prosperous list too, totaling 5 in all.
The midwest region contains 7 of the least successful cities, with Illinois containing 4.
The Top 25 Least Prosperous Cities in America, Ranked
These are the top 25 least prosperous cities in the country, according to our findings.
| Worst Rank | Metro | Population Change | Median Household Income Change | Value of Owner Occupied Homes Change | 2022 Unemployment Rate | Bachelor Degree or Higher | Population in Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC | -0.4% | 10% | -9% | 3.6% | 22% | 14% |
| 2 | Erie, PA | -1.3% | 12% | 9% | 4.0% | 29% | 17% |
| 3 | Rockford, IL | -0.1% | 2% | 23% | 5.8% | 25% | 14% |
| 4 | Peoria, IL | -1.6% | 4% | 3% | 4.5% | 31% | 13% |
| 5 | Laredo, TX | -2.3% | 19% | 16% | 3.8% | 21% | 22% |
| 6 | Corpus Christi, TX | -1.5% | 15% | 24% | 4.6% | 23% | 18% |
| 7 | Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA | -0.3% | 13% | 19% | 3.9% | 25% | 17% |
| 8 | Mobile, AL | -0.3% | 8% | 21% | 3.0% | 22% | 18% |
| 9 | Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA | 0.5% | 12% | 20% | 3.4% | 22% | 17% |
| 10 | Lafayette, LA | -2.4% | 13% | 13% | 2.7% | 24% | 20% |
| 11 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | -0.1% | 30% | 13% | 5.7% | 21% | 25% |
| 12 | Jackson, MS | -1.6% | 3% | 22% | 3.3% | 33% | 19% |
| 13 | Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH | -1.0% | 24% | -12% | 3.8% | 23% | 17% |
| 14 | Longview, TX | 0.7% | 18% | 15% | 4.1% | 21% | 15% |
| 15 | Flint, MI | -0.5% | 12% | 37% | 5.2% | 24% | 16% |
| 16 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | 0.5% | 13% | 13% | 3.7% | 28% | 14% |
| 17 | Fort Smith, AR-OK | -2.2% | 22% | -44% | 3.0% | 20% | 20% |
| 18 | Springfield, IL | -0.7% | 12% | 12% | 3.9% | 36% | 15% |
| 19 | Yuma, AZ | -2.1% | 22% | 29% | 16.3% | 17% | 17% |
| 20 | Monroe, LA | 1.1% | 14% | 17% | 2.9% | 24% | 27% |
| 21 | Fayetteville, NC | 0.8% | 23% | -53% | 5.5% | 27% | 15% |
| 22 | Gulfport-Biloxi, MS | 1.0% | 20% | 8% | 3.7% | 27% | 17% |
| 23 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 2.1% | 21% | 25% | 6.4% | 20% | 29% |
| 24 | Charleston, WV | -2.6% | 29% | 16% | 3.5% | 25% | 17% |
| 25 | Clarksville, TN-KY | 8.3% | 8% | 2% | 3.9% | 24% | 14% |
A city must have the capability for progress and vitality in order to be considered a thriving city in the long run. It must be better today than it was yesterday and have the momentum to continue improving in the future in order to stay on the radar.
For the cities ranked with the worst prosperity, one can hope this data creates awareness and urgency to solve its problems for a better future.
Methodology
To find the top 25 most and least prosperous cities in America, the data team at MyEListing.com gathered data on every metro area with a population over 200K people in 2021, which resulted in 227 cities. (Note: The Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY metro area was left out of our analysis, as it did not have sufficient data available.)
Then, we ranked each city based on 6 different metrics we determined are the most important in indicating a prosperous city. Those metrics were:
- The 5-year percent change in population growth;
- The 5-year percent change in median household income;
- The 5-year percent change in the value of owner-occupied homes;
- The unemployment rate in 2022;
- The percentage of the population with a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2021; and
- Population rate below the poverty line in 2021.
Each city was ranked in each of the above metrics, and then given a final ranking based on the combined average of ranking position for each individual metric.
Data was sourced from the U.S. Census ACS 1 and 5-year estimates, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics metro unemployment rates.
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