Rochester was ranked No. 35 on Forbes'annual list of "Best Small Places for Business and Careers."
Rochester ranked highly in education — 14th — while it was 65th in job growth and 162nd in cost of business.
"The Mayo Clinic forms the core of Rochester's economy. The clinic's many facilities, along with hotels, restaurants and retail stores, comprise nearly the entire city's downtown," Forbes says about Rochester.
The list is compiled from Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) across the nation with populations less than 250,000.
Sioux Falls, S.D., had the top rank, while Fargo, N.D., came in second. Rochester was the second area in Minnesota, after Mankato at 10. St. Cloud ranked 55th.
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In compiling its list Forbes considered 12 metrics relating to job growth (past and projected), costs (business and living), income growth over the past five years, educational attainment (college and high school) and projected economic growth through 2014.
The magazine also factors in migration patterns, cultural and recreational opportunities and the number of highly ranked colleges in an area. Forbes gives the most weighting to business costs and educational attainment in the overall ranking.
Forbes also released a list of "Best Places for Business and Careers" for MSAs with populations of 250,000 or greater. On this list Minneapolis-St. Paul ranked 23rd and Duluth ranked 115th. — Mike Klein.
