Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Area Development Magazine, in its 100 Leading Locations for 2012 feature, ranked Roanoke 15th among mid-size metros and 36th among all metros for a growing workforce.
The ranking took into consideration the proportion of workers 18 to 44 with a college degree, growth in the proportion of workers holding degrees, and inward migration of individuals holding degrees.
With 22 colleges and universities within an hour of Roanoke and a higher number of undergraduates per capita than Austin, TX, Boston, MA, San Francisco, CA, and Research Triangle, NC, the Roanoke Region is a great place to find talent. And the same Census figures that boosted Roanoke in the ranking show that over the period of 2008 to 2010, the Roanoke MSA attracted 1,402 individuals on average each year with at least a bachelor’s degree from out of state or from abroad.
The talent pool is growing in Roanoke. Area Development ranks Roanoke above several southern metros for prime workforce growth including Charlotte, NC, Winston-Salem, NC, Chattanooga, TN, Louisville, KY, Asheville, NC, Richmond, VA, Charlottesville, VA, Knoxville, TN, Lynchburg, VA, and Greensboro, NC, among others.
