Cedar Park Among Nation's Most Prosperous Cities According To New Index

CEDAR PARK, TX — The bipartisan public policy organization Economic Innovation Group on Monday released its 2017 Distressed Communities Index showing Cedar Park to be anything but, with the city emerging as among the top most prosperous cities in the United States.

The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) Distressed Communities Index (DCI) is an interactive tool for measuring the economic vitality of U.S. communities nationwide across ZIP codes, cities, counties, and congressional districts. The study evaluates the relationship between community well-being and a number of important factors, including individual health outcomes, public assistance spending, demographics, and political representation.

The latest study reveals a growing divergence in the economic and social experience of America’s distressed communities from the nation as a whole. Texas, the study noted, is no exception. Among the key findings for Texas:

• Plano, Texas, was found to be the second most prosperous large city in America, with 82.7 percent of the population living in prosperity.
• Flower Mound, with a population of 68,654, is the top most prosperous small city in America; Allen, Frisco, League City, and Cedar Park, are also among the top most prosperous smallest cities in America.
• Across Texas, 22.7 percent of the population live in distressed communities, while 29.1 percent live in prosperous ones.

The index this year found that 52.3 million Americans live in economically distressed communities — the one-fifth of zip codes that score worst on the DCI. That represents one in six Americans, or 17 percent of the U.S. population. By contrast, 84.8 million Americans live in prosperous communities — conversely, the one-fifth of zip codes that score best on the DCI. These top-performing zip codes contain 27 percent of the country’s population, a far greater share than any other tier.

Prosperous communities are much more widely distributed across regions and contain 26.5 percent of the population in the average state, the index found. Residents of prosperous communities such as Cedar Park make up at least 20 percent of the population in a whopping 37 states, researchers further found. In only three states is the figure under 10 percent.

States in New England, the Upper Midwest, and the Mountain West typically have the highest shares, led by Utah and Minnesota—states where nearly half of residents enjoy life in one of the nation’s top communities. Southern and Southwestern states with major metropolitan areas—Arizona (Phoenix), Georgia (Atlanta), North Carolina (Charlotte and Raleigh), Tennessee (Nashville), and Texas (Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio) — have more prosperous zip codes than their neighbors with smaller or less dynamic hubs of economic activity.

The index calls for passage of the bipartisan Investing in Opportunity Act as a solution to addressing economic distress. The legislation is designed to invigorate America's economy through an innovative approach that connects communities that have been disconnected from the modern economy with long-term private capital investments.

It's an exhaustive study. To read more, click here.

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