Gains in job and wage growth helped vault Colorado Springs to a No. 5 ranking among large metro areas in the 2025 Best-Performing Cities index released Tuesday by the Milken Institute, a nonpartisan, California-based think tank that measures the economic vitality of hundreds of cities in its annual report.

Colorado Springs’ ranking this year is its highest ever in the Milken report and the highest among Colorado cities. The Springs moved up 10 spots from No. 15 in 2024; its previous highest ranking was No. 9 in 2022 and it ranked No. 37 in 2023.

“Colorado Springs displayed balanced performance across all categories of the (Best-Performing Cities) ranking, with a solid labor market, strong high-tech sector and excellent access to economic opportunities,” the authors of the Milken report said about the Springs.

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First published in 1999, the Milken index is based on 13 indicators that combine labor market conditions, high-tech growth and access to economic opportunities into a single measurement to track the performance of 403 metro areas, according to the think tank. Of those metro areas, 200 with populations of more than 275,000 are classified as large cities, and the remaining 203 are designated as small cities.

Among findings that helped drive Colorado Springs’ ranking in the latest Milken report:

• Its job growth ranked 24th among large cities from 2022 to 2023, a jump from 97th during 2021 to 2022. The Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce & EDC has estimated that employers over the last two-plus years have announced more than 4,000 jobs and $1.7 billion in capital investment in the area.

• Short-term job growth, measured from July 2023 to July 2024, ranked 72nd — a low score among large cities, yet still a big improvement over the previous short-term measuring period when Colorado Springs ranked 127th.

• Wage growth in the Springs during 2022-2023 ranked 15th among large cities, an improvement from 78th in 2021-2022.

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“The professional services and government sectors primarily drove these improvements, though most other major sectors outpaced average national growth as well,” according to the Milken report’s ranking of Colorado Springs.

Of other measures Milken uses to assemble its Best-Performing Cities report, the think tank said Colorado Springs ranks near the top of the country in broadband coverage, community resilience — the ability to respond to an economic or natural disaster — and a separate index that indicates that economic opportunities are broadly shared in the area.

But Colorado Springs was dinged on housing affordability, ranking 126th among large cities in that measurement, the Milken report said. That same shortcoming was noted in last year’s Milken’s report.

“In May 2024, the Colorado legislature passed three housing bills to increase the provision of affordable housing throughout the state,” the Milken report said. “The impact of these bills will go a long way in determining if Colorado Springs will remain among our top-ranked cities.”

Milken’s report, by itself, doesn’t directly impact the day-to-day lives of Colorado Springs residents.

But business leaders will tout it as a marketing tool to encourage employers to relocate to the city or existing ones to expand their operations.

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Elected officials, meanwhile, like to use such reports to promote the livability of Colorado Springs. Other publications also have given the Springs high marks, such as U.S. News & World Report, which last year tabbed the city as No. 3 in its annual Best Places to Live rankings.

“The Milken Institute’s Best-Performing Cities ranking confirms what we’ve known for a long time — that Colorado Springs has a high performing, well-rounded, diverse and resilient economy,” Mayor Yemi Mobolade said via email. “Selected as the top-5 economy across all large cities in our country, we are consistently adding new jobs and are laser focused on continuing to bring new opportunity to our thriving and vibrant city.

“Of course, we also have our challenges, and that is why our city is aggressively focused on solutions to increase housing choices so that residents have options that are right for them,” Mobolade added. “This work includes implementing a data-driven housing strategy, strengthening community partnerships, supporting innovative approaches to construction and fostering diverse development that meets the needs of our community.”

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Other highlights of the Milken’s 2025 Best-Performing Cities report include:

• The top four large cities in the report, in order, were Raleigh, N.C.; Ogden-Clearfield, Utah; Salt Lake City; and Huntsville, Ala., — Colorado Springs’ archrival. The Springs has vied with Huntsville to be the permanent home of Space Command, which employs about 1,700 and has a $1 billion estimated annual economic impact. .

• The bottom five large metro areas were Memphis, Tenn., Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, Mich., Lafayette, La., Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio and Pa., and New Orleans-Metairie, La..

• Of other Colorado metro areas in the large city category, Fort Collins ranked No. 21; Denver-Aurora-Lakewood was No. 29; Boulder ranked No. 41; and Greeley came in at No. 48.

• Colorado metro areas in the small city category were Grand Junction at No. 60 and Pueblo at No. 132.