San Francisco, Austin, Provo and Raleigh: these are just some of the best performing cities in the United States according the Milken Institute’s annual list of dynamic metro areas. Each year, the economic think tank measures jobs, wages, salaries and technological output to map out the cities it believes “hold the key to economic success.”

This year’s top five cities are:

1. San Francisco, CA

2. Austin, TX

3. Provo, UT

4. San Jose, CA

5. Raleigh, NC

The cities that declined the most are:

1. Peoria, IL

2. Erie, PA

3. York, PA

4. Roanoke, VA

5. Hartford, CT

So what does it mean to live in a top performing city, and what does it mean to live in a city that ranked towards the bottom of the list?

“If you live in a metro with dynamic growth, there are lots of employment opportunities available for you,” says Ross DeVol, chief research officer at the Milken Institute. “You also find a great deal of inmigration occurs as it attracts talent to these dynamic cities. This tends to propel housing prices higher which is good if you [already] live in one of these metros.” The wage growth and employment opportunities that these cities provide are important considerations to make when looking at career progression, he says.

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This begs the question: if you don’t live in a top city should you move to one?

“If you look at the top 50 cities all of them have net in-migration, more people moving in than moving out,” says DeVol. “If you’re living in what might be a stagnant metropolitan economy you should certainly consider the possibility of moving to one of these dynamic metros.” Moving, however, isn’t for everyone. Stagnant areas tend to have lower housing prices and if you’re in a middle-wage job it might make sense to stay put. Still, living in a dynamic city allows for more potential wage growth. “More importantly, if you have a family, your kids may have better economic opportunity.”

For each additional year of educational attainment above the national average a metro area sees an increase in real GDP of over 10% and a significant increase in wages. That means that even those who aren’t in high-income occupations receive a boost.

The bottom line, says DeVol, is that there’s big risk in moving to one of these cities. “You may have to initially step back [career-wise] a bit further…there are high-tech STEM skilled jobs but even if you work in the leisure industry, if you’re embedded in one of those metros, it pulls up wages for everyone.”

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