Logan Ranked #1 Small City in United States by 2022 Milken Institute Analysis
LOGAN – The Milken Institute has once again recognized the Logan area as a top performing economy. According to its 2022 report, the Logan, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) – which includes all of Cache and Franklin counties – is the top small city in America. Last year, the area ranked second among small cities in the annual report that monitors economic resilience and opportunity across the country.
“Notably, the Cache Valley placed within the top 10 indicators in one-year job growth (fifth), five-year job growth (eighth), one-year wage growth (second), and five-year wage growth (fifth),” the report states. “With a second-place rank overall in high-tech industry diversity, the Logan metro is home to a host of high-tech medical manufacturing industries including pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.”
Kevin Klowden, executive director of the Milken Institute’s Center for Regional Economics and California Center, says Logan has been scoring well for a while and one factor that has been on the climb is wages.
“The fact that Logan came in second in wage growth means the kinds of jobs that were being added were particularly higher paying jobs, a number of technology-related jobs,” Klowden explains. “Logan happens to have a rather diverse level of high-tech industries.”
With Utah State University as an anchor institution in Cache Valley, coupled with Bridgerland Technical University and Weber State University not that far way, there is access to an engineering and research talent pool. Major employers in Cache Valley include USU, Conservice, Logan Regional Hospital, Gossner Foods, iFIT, ThermoFisher and Cytiva. High tech manufacturing companies have also recently expanded to Logan, including Electric Power Systems and Charon Technologies.