Austin is Forbes Magazine's #1!

Why isn't Forbes magazine moving it's business to Austin? Forbes says its #1 in America! It's got beautiful scenery, great recreational choices, a healthy realty market and a slick city attitude. And, as if anyone needed confirmation, Forbes magazine has now ranked Austin in the top three of each of its three 'best in America' categories.

Forbes magazine is considered by many to be America's #1 magazine for business, stocks, finance, lifestyle, technology and much more. When they compiled their 2008 rankings of 'Best Places for Business and Careers' this year, they slightly expanded their criteria to include certain other qualities of each area analyzed.

This is where Austin scored and all the facets of the survey contributed to Austin being the # 1of all America, in this category. When taking all aspects into account, income and job growth were still ranked first, but the analysis was expanded to include the whole business atmosphere.

Forbes reportedly gave special attention to the cost of doing business in the cities analyzed. This included the price of office space, labor, taxes and energy. The analysis not only explored the realizable pool of labor, but also investigated the quality and qualifications of the available pool of labor.

The rankings also calculated social characteristics which would make the region more attractive, such as crime rates, housing costs and net migration.

Austin came up as number one! Of course, in Austin this is no surprise, but it is still a feather in the cap to be recognized as the number one nationwide in the revered Forbes magazine.

One of the many reasons given for this ranking is attributed to the University of Texas. Each year the University enrolls close to 50,000 students and 25% of these enroll in graduate and professional degree programs. This results in the available labor pool being supplied with top notch college grads, many with Ph.D. s.

The other two surveys, in which Austin came in second and third would also have helped to contribute to the number one ranking in 'Best Places For Business and Careers'.

Austin came in at #2 for job growth and at #3 in the 'Best Cities for Jobs' ratings. Austin ranks third in the country for net migration; the figures for migration into Austin are quoted as 2.7% per year.

All these factors also contribute to elevating the allure of the Austin housing market, which is named as one of the few in the country predicted to rise in the next two years.

This was reported in a survey compiled by Private Mortgage Insurers, which dammed many areas into an 80% chance of realty decline, whilst analyzing Austin as having less than a one per cent chance.

All these indicators point to Austin as being amongst the best places to live and work in the United States; looks like the secret is out!