The Milken Institute’s Best-Performing Cities index provides an objective benchmark for examining the underlying factors and identifying unique characteristics of economic growth in metropolitan areas. Bend-Redmond, OR, tops the Best-Performing Small Cities index, rising from eighth in 2015. Bend improved in seven of the nine indicators. It ranks No. 1 in job growth from 2014 to 2015. Tourism and
health care form the economic base of the local economy.
The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank determined to increase global
prosperity by advancing collaborative solutions that widen access to capital, create jobs,
and improve health. This is done through independent, data-driven research, action-oriented
meetings, and meaningful policy initiatives.