Fears over a coming recession are shaking the financial markets to their core. But in the almost certain event of a huge economic downturn, some U.S. cities will find themselves in a better position to weather the storm.
Days before coronavirus was declared a worldwide pandemic, SmartAsset took a look at the economic fundamentals for 264 of the largest cities in the country and developed a list of the most recession-resistant. It used nine different metrics across three categories: employment, housing, and social assistance.
Texas performed exceptionally well, with 5 Lone Star cities ranking in the top 10. Just one California city (Sunnyvale) made the top 10. It came in at #6.
“Sunnyvale, California ranks within the top fifth of the study for all three categories we considered,” the website said. “Sunnyvale’s 2018 unemployment rate as well as 2018 labor force participation rate also rank within the top 20% of the study, at 3.8% and 73.3%, respectively. In terms of housing, Sunnyvale has the 27th-lowest housing costs as a percentage of income in the study, at about 20.3%, and ties for the lowest 2018 mortgage delinquency rate, at 0.3%. Furthermore, the city ties with Austin for the 15th-lowest percentage of its population relying on public assistance, at approximately 1%.”
Here were the 10 most recession-resistant cities according to SmartAsset:
1. Frisco, TX
2. Cedar Rapids, IA
3. Plano, TX
4. Denton, TX
5. Austin, TX
6. Sunnyvale, CA
7. Lubbock, TX
8. Cary, NC
9. Raleigh, NC
10. Sioux Falls, SD
See full rankings and methodology here.
List and data is compiled by SmartAsset and does not reflect statistics on all U.S. or California cities.