Midland Named a Top 10 Best-Performing City in 2026

The Milken Institute’s 2026 Best-Performing Cities report ranked Midland as the No. 9 Best-Performing Small City in the nation. This report evaluated 411 metropolitan areas across 13 economic metrics, including labor market conditions, wage health, and GDP momentum. Midland’s ranking officially cements its status as a premier economic engine in the United States.
Midland stands as one of only two metropolitan areas in Texas to earn the coveted Best-Performing City distinction. (Austin is the other.)

By the Numbers

Midland’s position in the top ten is backed by a stalwart data-driven performance across the board. While the broader national economy experiences localized cooling, Midland has continued a steady upward trajectory since 2022 by leveraging its industrial and labor advantages.
Driven by high-value energy, logistics, and professional operations, Midland’s long-term wage growth from 2019 to 2024 increased by 37.4 percent. And over the short term, from 2023 to 2024, wages jumped another 9.7 percent, placing Midland No. 5 nationally for one-year wage growth.
In this same interval, Midland’s local labor market expanded 9.2 percent from 2019 to 2024. Midland ranked No. 8 for single-year job growth into 2024, maintaining a local unemployment rate under 3 percent.
Benefitting from intense domestic production and commercial output, Midland’s GDP responded in kind. GDP climbed 11.1 percent long-term and registered an 8.5 percent increase between 2023 and 2024. 

Advantage Midland

The region's wage growth, labor market expansion, and GDP performance highlight Midland's role as the administrative, corporate, and logistics center of the Permian Basin. This deep-rooted infrastructure provides a proven stable economic floor for corporate relocation and expansion.
Midland’s wage growth and labor market growth mean high-skilled, high-earning workers want to work here. Midland draws from an active regional labor pool of over 280,000 workers across the Permian Basin. Due to the technical complexities core to Midland’s largest industries, including modern horizontal drilling, sub-surface engineering, and aerospace operations, Midland boasts nearly twice the national average of educated engineers per capita. And unlike many traditional industrial and manufacturing hubs, this workforce is young and resilient with a median age of 31.5 years.

Building a Resilient Future

Midland’s ranking proves that its unique economic foundation can easily withstand shifting macroeconomic winds. For companies looking to scale in a business-friendly, high-earning, and close-knit Texas community, the Milken Institute’s data confirms what locals already know: Midland is built to perform.
If you’d like to learn more about the opportunities available in Midland, please reach out to the Midland Development Corporation.