Recession-Proof Cities (Metropolitan Areas)
To date, 6 cities are recession-proof, and another 29 are
almost recession-proof as of 11/23/08.
Please note that this list is getting smaller over
time. Three years
ago there were 78. As the 2008 economy continues to
decline, some cities are setting new record lows and
falling off this list.
Definition:
- To be "recession-proof," an area must
have grown faster than the average population growth
since 1990, and during the recessions that ended in
1991 and 2002, and today.
- To be almost recession-proof, it must
have grown in all periods (green or grey).
 The
chart on the right shows national employment growth.
The table below shows the employment growth rates for
35 metropolitan areas (out of 351) from 1990 to
2008, the worst 12 month periods of the recessions
that ended in 1991 and 2002, and the 12 months ending
October 2008. It also includes the number of new
jobs in the 12 months ending in October 2008, and the
total employed.
Green
denotes growing faster than population growth and
grey
denotes growing slowly.
All data comes from the
Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
|
State |
Area |
90-08 |
1991 |
2002 |
2008 |
New Jobs |
Employed |
|
Alaska |
Anchorage, AK |
40% |
0.8% |
2.6% |
0.7% |
1,200 |
170,000 |
|
Arkansas |
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO |
93% |
3.6% |
3.4% |
0.8% |
1,700 |
211,000 |
|
California |
Bakersfield, CA |
40% |
4.5% |
1.3% |
1.4% |
3,300 |
243,700 |
|
California |
Merced, CA |
34% |
6.8% |
4.7% |
1.7% |
1,000 |
60,400 |
|
Colorado |
Grand Junction, CO |
90% |
2.3% |
2.8% |
3.9% |
2,500 |
66,600 |
|
Colorado |
Greeley, CO |
77% |
1.7% |
1.2% |
1.1% |
900 |
84,900 |
|
Idaho |
Coeur d'Alene, ID |
133% |
8.7% |
3.4% |
0.5% |
300 |
58,900 |
|
Illinois |
Bloomington-Normal, IL |
37% |
2.5% |
3.1% |
0.2% |
200 |
92,800 |
|
Illinois |
Springfield, IL |
3% |
1.4% |
0.4% |
0.2% |
200 |
112,500 |
|
Louisiana |
Alexandria, LA |
31% |
2.2% |
1.4% |
0.0% |
0 |
65,800 |
|
Louisiana |
Baton Rouge, LA |
42% |
3.6% |
0.2% |
0.3% |
1,300 |
376,600 |
|
Louisiana |
Lake Charles, LA |
23% |
2.7% |
1.3% |
0.2% |
200 |
92,900 |
|
Maryland |
Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV |
44% |
0.8% |
0.6% |
0.8% |
800 |
103,300 |
|
Minnesota |
Rochester, MN |
43% |
1.0% |
0.1% |
0.5% |
500 |
108,500 |
|
Minnesota |
St. Cloud, MN |
43% |
3.8% |
0.4% |
0.0% |
0 |
104,800 |
|
Missouri |
Columbia, MO |
52% |
2.3% |
2.6% |
0.1% |
100 |
95,300 |
|
Montana |
Billings, MT |
56% |
2.5% |
3.7% |
1.4% |
1,100 |
82,500 |
|
Montana |
Missoula, MT |
66% |
1.2% |
2.2% |
1.4% |
800 |
58,600 |
|
North Carolina |
Asheville, NC |
38% |
0.8% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
0 |
180,900 |
|
North Dakota |
Bismarck, ND |
53% |
1.0% |
0.0% |
2.0% |
1,200 |
62,000 |
|
Oregon |
Bend, OR |
117% |
3.0% |
1.4% |
0.3% |
200 |
72,500 |
|
Pennsylvania |
State College, PA |
26% |
2.9% |
1.5% |
1.2% |
900 |
77,800 |
|
Texas |
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX |
63% |
2.3% |
1.3% |
2.0% |
2,500 |
126,000 |
|
Texas |
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX |
47% |
1.9% |
0.0% |
2.0% |
52,300 |
2,634,900 |
|
Texas |
Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX |
61% |
1.5% |
1.0% |
2.0% |
2,400 |
125,200 |
|
Texas |
Laredo, TX |
94% |
7.9% |
3.9% |
3.2% |
2,800 |
89,200 |
|
Texas |
Odessa, TX |
47% |
4.5% |
1.4% |
2.1% |
1,300 |
62,100 |
|
Texas |
Tyler, TX |
50% |
1.9% |
1.7% |
1.1% |
1,000 |
94,900 |
|
Virginia |
Harrisonburg, VA |
49% |
1.2% |
0.2% |
1.9% |
1,200 |
66,000 |
|
Washington |
Bellingham, WA |
56% |
1.4% |
1.7% |
0.5% |
400 |
87,000 |
|
Washington |
Bremerton-Silverdale, WA |
33% |
3.0% |
3.0% |
0.0% |
0 |
87,100 |
|
Washington |
Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, WA |
51% |
2.0% |
3.4% |
2.4% |
2,200 |
95,700 |
|
Washington |
Olympia, WA |
58% |
| |
