Vital Signs
A look at how cities and states compare
on various measures of development
Compiled by Maura Webber Sadovi and John Leger
Illustrations by Daniel Baxter
Building Blocs
Number of architectural and other engineers per 1,000 population, 2006
Sources: U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, Moody’s Economy.com.
Rank Metro Area Number
1 Huntsville, Ala. 41.4
2 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. 31.2
3 Boulder, Colo. 28.0
4 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla. 26.1 5 Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, Wash. 22.9
6 Ann Arbor, Mich. 21.9
7 Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, Fla. 20.3
8 Sheboygan, Wis. 18.4
9 Albuquerque, N.M. 16.6
10 Holland-Grand Haven, Mich. 16.0
U.S. average 8.1
Rank Metro Area Rank Metro Area
1 Austin, Texas 26 Dover, Del.
2 Fort Walton Beach, Fla. 27 Dallas, Texas
3 Corvallis, Ore. 28 Naples, Fla.
4 Raleigh, N.C. 29 Charlotte, N.C.
5 Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 30 Fort Worth, Texas
6 Boise City, Idaho 31 Charlottesville, Va.
7 Orlando, Fla. 32 Houston, Texas
8 Huntsville, Ala. 33 Bend, Ore.
9 Sioux Falls, S.D. 34 Bismarck, N.D.
10 Fargo, N.D. 35 Tallahassee, Fla.
11 Jacksonville, Fla. 36 Panama City, Fla.
12 Portland, Ore. 37 Fayetteville, Ark.
13 Phoenix, Ariz. 38 Minneapolis, Minn.
14 Idaho Falls, Idaho 39 Salt Lake City, Utah
15 Tampa, Fla. 40 Cape Coral, Fla.
16 Fort Collins, Colo. 41 Columbia, Mo.
17 Bethesda, Md. 42 Rapid City, S.D.
18 Billings, Mont. 43 Missoula, Mont.
19 Albuquerque, N.M. 44 West Palm Beach, Fla.
20 Nashville, Tenn. 45 Longview, Texas
21 Las Vegas, Nev. 46 Port St. Lucie, Fla.
22 Santa Ana, Calif. 47 Colorado Springs, Colo.
23 Washington, D.C. 48 Logan, Utah
24 Denver, Colo. 49 Manchester, N.H.
25 Atlanta, Ga. 50 Ocala, Fla.
Rarin’ to Go
Moody’s Economy.com has devised a Business Vitality Index that rates the overall economic vitality of a metro area by looking at a range of factors rather than just one measure. The index takes into account current economic conditions such as household income growth, factors that affect prospective conditions including labor availability and regional cost structure, and potential risks such as employment volatility. Here are the top 50 (out of 379) metros.
Source: Moody’s Economy.com
Rank State Pct. Rank State Pct. Rank State Pct. Rank State Pct.
1 Mississippi 21.3 14 Georgia 14.4 26 Maine 12.6 38 Nebraska 10.9
2 Louisiana 19.8 14 Montana 14.4 27 Rhode Island 12.3 40 Delaware 10.4
3 D.C. 19.0 16 Arizona 14.2 28 Indiana 12.2 41 Massachusetts 10.3
4 New Mexico 18.5 17 Oregon 14.1 29 Illinois 12.0 42 Utah 10.2
5 West Virginia 18.0 18 Idaho 13.9 30 Pennsylvania 11.9 42 Wisconsin 10.2
6 Texas 17.6 19 New York 13.8 30 Washington 11.9 44 Virginia 10.0
7 Arkansas 17.2 20 South Dakota 13.6 32 Kansas 11.7 45 Hawaii 9.8
8 Alabama 17.0 U.S. 13.3 33 Vermont 11.5 46 Wyoming 9.5
9 Kentucky 16.8 21 California 13.3 34 Alaska 11.2 47 Minnesota 9.2
10 Oklahoma 16.5 21 Missouri 13.3 34 North Dakota 11.2 48 New Jersey 8.7 11 South Carolina 15.6 23 Michigan 13.2 36 Colorado 11.1 49 Connecticut 8.3
12 Tennessee 15.5 24 Ohio 13.0 36 Nevada 11.1 50 Maryland 8.2
13 North Carolina 15.1 25 Florida 12.8 38 Iowa 10.9 51 New Hampshire 7.5
Below the Line
Percentage of persons living below poverty level, 2005
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey
Feeding the Government
Percentage of individuals’ income that goes to local, state and federal taxes
Rank State Pct. Rank State Pct. Rank State Pct. Rank State Pct.
1 Connecticut 38.3 14 Wisconsin 33.3 26 Arizona 31.3 39 Missouri 30.2 2 New York 37.1 15 Illinois 33.2 27 Delaware 31.2 40 Montana 29.8 3 D.C. 36.4 16 Maryland 33.1 28 Kansas 31.0 41 West Virginia 29.8 4 New Jersey 35.6 17 Hawaii 33.0 29 Georgia 30.9 42 Texas 29.8 5 Nevada 35.2 18 Virginia 32.9 30 New Hampshire 30.8 43 Idaho 29.6 6 Vermont 35.1 U.S. 32.7 31 Indiana 30.8 44 South Dakota 29.3 7 Rhode Island 35.1 19 Ohio 32.4 32 Oregon 30.7 45 Louisiana 29.1 8 Massachusetts 34.4 20 Wyoming 32.1 33 Arkansas 30.7 46 New Mexico 28.8 9 California 34.3 21 Pennsylvania 31.9 34 Iowa 30.6 47 Tennessee 28.8 10 Washington 34.0 22 Michigan 31.9 35 Kentucky 30.4 48 Mississippi 28.1 11 Maine 33.9 23 Nebraska 31.8 36 South Carolina 30.3 49 Alaska 28.1 12 Minnesota 33.9 24 Colorado 31.8 37 Utah 30.3 50 Alabama 28.0 13 Florida 33.6 25 North Carolina 31.3 38 North Dakota 30.2 51 Oklahoma 27.8
Note: Percentages are rounded off Source: Tax Foundation calculations based on data from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis
Venturing Forth
Investments in venture-backed companies, 2006
Source: MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data from Thomson Financial
Rank State Deals Amount
1 California 1,445 $12,242,425,300 2 Massachusetts 368 2,819,468,800
3 Texas 176 1,384,577,200
4 New York 190 1,256,823,700
5 Washington 135 1,012,071,100 6 Pennsylvania 102 777,783,000
7 New Jersey 84 771,270,600
8 Maryland 108 636,215,300
9 Colorado 92 621,816,300
10 North Carolina 65 471,606,600
11 Illinois 51 392,065,200
12 Virginia 79 368,409,000
13 Georgia 75 352,893,900
14 Minnesota 36 321,586,200
15 Florida 53 303,626,900
16 Arizona 28 252,161,500
17 Connecticut 31 249,616,900
18 Utah 34 167,806,800
19 Oregon 30 138,162,100
20 District of Columbia 15 116,927,200
Star Power
Feature films produced or partially produced, 2005
Source: Motion Picture Association of America
Rank State Number
1 California 365
2 New York 281
3 Nevada 237
4 Arizona 97
5 North Carolina 64
6 Montana 36
7 New Jersey 24
8 Louisiana 23
9 New Mexico 22
10 Illinois 21
11 Connecticut 19
11 New Hampshire 19
13 Virginia 18
14 Texas 16
14 Utah 16
16 D.C. 15
16 Florida 15
16 Hawaii 15
16 Pennsylvania 15
20 Indiana 12
Patent Producers
Patents issued to residents of the U.S. in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2006*
* Data include utility, plant, design and reissue patents
Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Rank State Number
1 California 23,579
2 Texas 6,345
3 New York 6,075
4 Massachusetts 4,089
5 Michigan 3,913
6 Illinois 3,808
7 New Jersey 3,414
8 Washington 3,253
9 Florida 3,129
10 Ohio 3,123
11 Minnesota 3,034
12 Pennsylvania 2,992
13 Oregon 2,366
14 Colorado 2,218
15 North Carolina 2,172
16 Wisconsin 1,987
17 Arizona 1,793
18 Connecticut 1,790
19 Idaho 1,611
20 Georgia 1,596
Where the Boys Are
Ratio of unmarried men 15 to 44, per 100 unmarried women 15 to 44
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey
Rank State Ratio Rank State Ratio
1 Nevada 120.2 27 Vermont 108.9 2 North Dakota 120.1 28 Oklahoma 108.8
3 Alaska 118.9 U.S. 108.7
