Blacksburg named 28th "Best Small Place for Business and Careers" by Forbes.com
April 14, 2010
For the third consecutive year Blacksburg was ranked by Forbes.com as one of the "Best Small Places for Business and Careers." Each year Forbes ranks over 180 "small metro areas" with populations under 300,000 using 12 metrics ranging from costs (business and living) to culture and leisure.
Blacksburg rose four spots this year to be named the 28th "Best Small Place for Business and Careers." The ranking is based on community data from the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The MSA ranked in the top 50 in several individual categories, including: Subprime Mortgages (10th), Colleges (14th), Income Growth (21st), Educational Attainment (45th) and Crime Rate (50th).
Blacksburg out ranked several other Virginia metro areas, including Harrisonburg (29th), Winchester (58th) and Danville (156). Charlottesville (18th) was the only other community with a higher overall ranking. The Roanoke metro area competed in the over 300,000 population category and ranked 39th overall on that list.