St. George has been named America’s best-performing small city in a new national economic ranking.
Southwest Utah’s largest city tops the list for the first time in 2026 after spending the past decade battling it out in the top five. The report from the Milken Institute, an international economic think tank, pointed to the city’s swift growth in jobs and wages, which were both among the nation’s highest in recent years.
“It's something that we've known for a long time here,” said St. George Economic Development Director Chad Thomas, “but to hit that top spot feels really good.”
As the local economy grows, he said, it presents an enticing opportunity to tourists. They may realize southwest Utah is a place they can live, rather than just a spot for outdoor recreation.
Beyond giving the city something to post on social media, recognitions like this can have tangible impacts for St. George, Thomas said. It helps attract new businesses to town and affirms that some of the moves city leaders have made appear to be working.
“It puts the spotlight back on St. George,” Thomas said. “These success stories and these rankings help us think, ‘OK, what are we doing well? And let's continue to do that.’”
Milken also showed some love for northern Utah. Behind St. George, Logan came in 8th for best small city. And the Provo and Salt Lake City metro areas ranked as the 6th and 7th best large cities in the U.S., respectively.
Jobs in St. George increased by 24% from 2019 to 2024 and another 4% from 2024 to 2025, according to the report. Both numbers rank in the top five nationwide. Although the city falls in the middle of the pack for its tech economy overall, it did see the country’s top growth rate in that industry since 2019.
Despite the high ranking, the report also pointed out a few enduring weaknesses that could hold St. George back.
First, there are environmental challenges, like water scarcity and wildfire risk.
Washington County has a long-term plan to stretch its limited water supply into the early 2040s. It hopes to do that by increasing conservation — primarily replacing irrigated lawns with less thirsty landscaping — and by ramping up how much sewage it cleans and reuses.
Both initiatives have seen some early success, but they still face challenges. Wastewater reuse efforts are expensive, with the countywide system’s price tag estimated to well surpass a billion dollars. And increased conservation relies on residents voluntarily changing their behavior, which can take time.
While St. George has not experienced a major urban wildfire in recent years, it’s vulnerable to the types of disasters that have happened in Los Angeles and Colorado. Essentially all of the city’s properties face a major risk for wildfire in the next three decades, according to First Street, a research organization that quantifies climate risks.
Then there’s the tricky real estate market. St. George ranked 153rd out of 205 small cities nationally for housing affordability in the Milken report, with prices unaffordable for nearly one-third of residents.
Home prices and rents in Washington County have doubled since 2015. The median home price is now more than $535,000, and median rent for a studio apartment tops $1,300 a month. This dynamic is already squeezing out seniors, working families and the children of people who already live in St. George.
While Washington County may not be growing as fast as previously thought, it’s still expected to add more than 80,000 new residents in the next two decades. And as St. George’s economy and population continue to grow, it threatens to strain both the housing and water hurdles the city already faces.
These challenges don’t surprise local leaders, Thomas said, and they’re trying to find solutions. He points to St. George’s collaboration with local nonprofits to help people experiencing homelessness as an example of how the city is addressing some of those issues.
“We understand the challenges. We don't absolve ourselves from any of that, and that's what we're working towards,” Thomas said. “We don't want to sit on our laurels and say, ‘Yeah, we're number one, and we’ve arrived.”
