Brevard County Top Gainer on Prestigious Milken Index

Space Coast, FL – The Space Coast can add another ranking to its growing collection – top gainer in Milken Institute’s Best Performing Cities 2017: Where America’s Jobs are Created and Sustained. Climbing an impressive 90 spots in just one year, the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville region is now in the top one-third of large Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), placing it in the competitive ranks of cities such as Austin, Dallas, Seattle, and more.

“Placing 63rd, from 153rd, on this list is an astounding accomplishment for Brevard County,” said Lynda Weatherman, president and CEO of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast (EDC). “As our county’s success continues, this recognition will enhance the EDC’s efforts as we compete with regions more than twice our size.”

The report echoes the activity that the Space Coast and the EDC have been witnessing in recent years. Since 2010, the EDC has led 49 successful business development projects with a local impact of $1.6 billion in capital investment, accumulating 16,027 new and retained jobs with an average wage of $75,509.

The Milken Institute’s Best-Performing Cities (BPC) U.S. index measures metropolitan areas’ economic performance using outcomes-based metrics such as job creation, wage gains, and technology developments to evaluate the metros’ relative growth, to discover which metro areas offer the greatest opportunities for prosperity and innovation across the nation.

For more information on additional findings, and to download the report, visit www.MilkenInstitute.org