Ten cities that have fared well through the economic crash

Despite the crash, some areas have performed well

Ten cities across the nation have fared fairly well despite the economic meltdown with rising populations, declining unemployment rates and improving housing prices. TheState.com outlined their top ten cities “unaffected” by a bad economy and while it could be argued that no city is immune to national financial crises, it is hard to argue that any city who has grown 20% in the last ten years experiencing a low unemployment rate is suffering in comparison.

With the national unemployment rate at 9.2% and housing prices projected to drop another 2.4% in 2011, many areas remain hard hit.

How the top ten cities have fared:

Austin, Texas is ranked as the top performing city according to TheState.com with an unemployment rate of 6.8%, a population rise of 20.4% between 2000 and 2010, and housing prices having dropped 2.28% from March 2010 to March 2011 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency yet a rise of 14.64% in values over the last five years.

1. Austin, TX- 6.8% unemployment, 20.4% population increase in 10 years, home prices down 2.28% over one year and up 14.64% over the last five.
2. Washington, D.C.- 5.8% unemployment, 2.8% population change, -1.58% home prices over one year, -20.84% home prices over five years.
3. Augusta, GA- 8.4% unemployment, 0.3% population change, -2.8% home price change over one year, 5.04% over five years.
4. Madison, WI- 5.7% unemployment, 11.6% population change, -1.59% home price change over one year, -2.47% over five years.
5. Boulder, CO- 6.9% unemployment, 5.8% population change, -2.76% home price change over one year, 0.39% over five years.
6. Dallas, TX- 6.9% unemployment, 8.1% population change, -2.04% home price change over one year, 3.66% over five years.
7. Albany, NY- 7.2% unemployment, 2.3% population change, 0.09% home price change over one year, 3.29% over five years.
8. Boston, MA- 7.1% unemployment, 4.8% population change, 0.19% home price change over one year, -14.12% over five years.
9. Pittsburgh, PA- 7.4% unemployment, -8.6% population change, 1.05% home price change over one year, 7.08% over five years.
10. Elko, NV- 7.9% unemployment, 7.8% population change, FHFA does not track Elko as an MSA.

What is interesting about the list is that there is not one thing in common as they are all of various industry backgrounds, some are college towns while others are not, some have great housing prices while others have dropped, but most of these areas were healthy to begin with. Even these cities have felt the pinch but continue to perform well. How has your city fared in the economic downturn?