Eight Missouri cities named “best places for business and careers” by Forbes

makethumbnailEight Missouri cities have been named to the Forbes 2014 lists of The Best Places for Business and Careers and The Small Places for Business and Careers.

The 16th annual ranking of The Best Places for Business and Careers looks at the 200 largest metropolitan statistical areas and divisions in the U.S. Three Missouri cities made the list: Kansas City came in at No. 36; St. Louis came in at No. 85; and Springfield came in at No. 115.

Five other Missouri cities made the list of The Best Small Places for Business and Careers: Columbia came in at No. 6; Cape Girardeau came in at No. 75; St. Joseph came it at No. 93; Jefferson City came in at No. 123; and Joplin came in at No. 134.

To determine both rankings, Forbes looked at 12 metrics relating to job growth, income growth over the past five years, educational attainment and projected economic growth through 2016. They also factored in net migration patterns over the past five years, cultural and recreational opportunities, and the number of highly ranked colleges (per their annual college rankings).

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