A new report ranks The Villages first in job growth, first in wage growth, and 11th in overall economic performance among 203 small cities across the United States.
The Milken Institute published its report of the 2025 Best Performing Cities on January 14.
The report recognizes 403 metropolitan areas that are divided into “large” and “small” cities and ranked into five separate tiers.
Overall, The Villages ranked 11th in 2025, 10th in 2024, and 4th in 2023. However, from 2018 to 2023, The Villages ranked first in job growth and first in wage growth.
In 2023, the community ranked 3rd in job growth, 4th in broadband access, and 24th in housing affordability. According to the institute, tier 1 small cities saw employment grow faster than their tier 1 large city counterparts.
“This was largely due to the extraordinary job growth in a few small Tier 1 metropolitan areas, such as Midland, Texas; Gainesville, Georgia; and The Villages, Florida,” reads the statement.
The report also notes that The Villages ranked last (203rd) in community resilience, which is inversely proportional to a community’s ability to withstand or recover from natural disasters.
According to the institute, the 2025 index measured 13 metrics across three categories: Labor market performance, high-tech impact, and access to economic opportunities. This year’s index is largely based on data from 2023, which is the most recent year of data available.
In 2023, the US labor market added over 2.8 million jobs across metropolitan areas, accounting for 88.2% of all new jobs in the country.
The 2025 report ranked Gainesville, Georgia, as the best-performing small city.
The Villages was the only small city from Florida that ranked in the top 30 of the list, with other Floridian cities including Punta Gorda (35th), Sebastian-Vero Beach (49th), Panama City (#73), and Homosassa Springs (#169).
Among the top-performing large cities on the list was nearby Ocala, which ranked 36th out of 200.
The Milken Institute was founded in 1991 by Michael Milken. The nonprofit think tank supports research and programs on economic and social issues.
Published annually since 1999, Milken Institute Best Performing Cities report reflects “cities’ effectiveness at leveraging their resources to promote economic growth and provide their residents with access to essential services and infrastructure needed for success.”
