Three Valley cities ranked among top 10 most prosperous in America
Feb 10, 2018, 9:12 PM | Updated: Feb 11, 2018, 3:56 pm
(Facebook Photo)
(Facebook Photo)
Gilbert, Chandler and Scottsdale ranked as the first, fourth and 10th most prosperous cities in America, respectively, in a recent study.
The study, conducted by the Economic Innovation Group, used what they called a Distressed Communities Index, evaluating seven metrics to assess the economic well being of over 26,000 zip codes in the country.
As part of the study, the group used the index to analyze the 100 largest cities in America and found that Gilbert, Chandler and Scottsdale all rank in the top 10.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Tucson ranks as the 10th most distressed community in America.
Despite having three of the most prosperous cities in America, Arizona ranks as the 13th most distressed state in America with 24.2 percent of its residents living in distressed zip codes.
The seven metrics that the Distressed Communities Index takes into consideration include percentage of adults without a high school diploma, poverty rate, prime-age adults not in work, housing vacancy rate, median income ratio, change in employment, and change in establishments.
On average, the study found there is a five-year gap in life expectancy for those who live in prosperous counties compared to distressed counties. The life expectancy for someone who lives in a prosperous county is 80 years while in a distressed county life expectancy is only 75 years.
