A record period of U.S. economic prosperity has reshaped the economy of the U.S., in particularly obvious patterns at the metropolitan level. A new Brookings report details the way metro areas have changed.
Alan Berube writes to share news of the latest release of the Brookings Institution's Metro Monitor 2020 report on March 5. According to Berube, the report reveals the story of over a decade of economic expansion in the United States, with very large metropolitan areas leading the growth.
On the three growth indicators—changes in GDP, jobs, and jobs at young firms (a proxy for entrepreneurship)—very large metro areas overall outpaced large metro areas, which in turn outpaced midsized metro areas. The same pattern prevailed for prosperity indicators, including changes in average annual wages, output per job (productivity), and output per capita (standard of living). And in overall inclusion, the same positive relationship with metro area size characterized changes in the adult employment rate and median earnings.
Berube's article supplements the website set up to host the new report. The main report's site includes interactive infographics—like the Metro Monitor 2020 Dashboard, for example—which allows breakdowns on demographic performance for specific metropolitan areas. Interactive infographics also present economic data for metropolitan areas and an overall growth index.
Since publication, Patrick Sisson covered the report for Curbed and Stephen Lee Davis promoted the report's findings for Strong Towns.
FULL STORY: Metro Monitor 2020: Prosperity is increasing in America’s largest metro areas, but not for everyone
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