Tulsa Rises on List of ‘Best Places’: The City Ranks 43rd in Forbes Magazine’s ‘Business and Careers’ Category.
By Laurie Winslow, Tulsa World, Okla.
May 6–Tulsa saw its ranking on the list of “Best Places for Business and Careers” rise to No. 43 out of the nation’s 200 largest metro areas, according to the annual ranking by Forbes magazine.
A year ago, the magazine ranked Tulsa 77th among the nation’s 150 largest metro areas.
“We are delighted to see we’ve improved . . . over last year, and being recognized in Forbes magazine as one of the 50 top places in the country for business is just more of a recognition of our solid economic base that is continuing to grow and prosper,” said Darryl Gosnell, senior vice president of economic development for the Tulsa Metro Chamber.
A lot of different ratings and rankings come out every year, and sometimes it’s hard to know what factors go into compiling them as Tulsa might rank high on one but low on another, Gosnell said. But anytime Tulsa is ranked as one of the nation’s 50 best places for business is an “extremely positive thing,” he said.
Forbes also ranked Tulsa fifth for having a low cost of doing business, compared with third place last year. The “cost of doing business” ranking is based on labor, energy, taxes and office space.
“It still indicates it’s a competitive business environment. It’s a growing economy. Things are moving forward,” Gosnell said.
Tulsa placed 136th in job growth, but that ranking is based on five-year annualized figures.
“If you look at our job growth over the last two years, we would probably be a lot better,” Gosnell said.
He noted that a lot of existing companies are growing, and new companies are looking at the area.
The latest employment figures also signal growth. The Tulsa area economy added 2,900 nonfarm jobs in March and had 11,300 more jobs than in March 2005, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission recently reported.
The metro area’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.0 percent.
Forbes ranked the Tulsa area second for income growth, a huge improvement over last year, when it ranked 111th. Again, the ranking is based on five-year annualized figures.
Tulsa went through a period three or four years ago when it lost a lot of higher-paying jobs, Gosnell said. But over the past year or so, many of those jobs have started coming back as local companies expand and create better-paying positions.
Forbes also ranked Tulsa 63rd for cost of living, 145th for its crime rate, 116th for culture and leisure, and 127th for educational attainment.
Slowing income growth caused some of last year’s top-ranked metro areas such as Atlanta and Austin, Texas, to drop in their rankings.
High business costs caused Florida and California not to fare well in the rankings. California has 20 of the 25 most expensive places to locate a business, according to the magazine.
Oklahoma City ranked 13th overall and fourth in the cost of doing business.
Albuquerque, N.M., was the top-ranked metro area, followed by Raleigh, N.C.; Houston; Boise, Idaho; and Knoxville, Tenn.
The full list can be viewed at www.forbes.com
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Copyright (c) 2006, Tulsa World, Okla.
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