Continuing the theme from yesterday’s Daily Data Discussion post, let’s take a quick look today at the lowest ranking cities in the Milken Institute’s 2008 Best Performing Cities Index for Small Cities. 

A word of respectful caution with regard to the Milken Institute’s rankings – like any other team (ours included) looking at a large “pile” of data, particularly given the framework of today’s disordered economy and financial markets – Milken occasionally misses the call on a market.  It happens when market dynamics and fundamentals are changing rapidly as they are today.  Milken genuinely mis-ranked markets in Florida, California, and Arizona in their 2007 rankings for example. 

Hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it?

I just make passing mention of it yesterday, but we are doing a feature in this month’s Emerging Market Report newsletter about the Milken Institute Best Performing Cities rankings, looking in a bit more detail at their methodology, as well as the weaknesses and strengths of the index.  We’ve all learned quite a bit just researching the information in more detail. 

Here are the markets ranked lowest in the 2008 Milken Institute’s Best Performing Cities Index for small cities (the actual Index ranking is listed in parentheses) –

1) Jackson, MS (124)
2) Battle Creek, MI (123)
3) Lima, OH (122)
4) Saginaw, MI (121)
5) Springfield, OH (120)

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the markets around the country with the best and worst job growth rates (total nonfarm job growth) in the nation.

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