Madison, WI-Today, Next Generation Consulting  (NGC) announced its "Next Cities" rankings - the best places to live and work for young professionals - in three population categories. NGC tabulated the rankings after collecting and analyzing 45 measures for all U.S. cities with over 100,000 people.

NGC has studied the residential and relocation patterns of 20-40 years olds since 1998, and has developed a one-of-a-kind indexing system that evaluates a city based on the assets that are important to next gen workers. According to NGC, the seven indexes of a "Next City" are:  Earning, Learning, Vitality, Around Town, After Hours, Cost of Lifestyle, and Social Capital. The rankings announced today are based on a city's total score in all seven indexes.

"Simply being the cheapest place to live, or the city with the most jobs is not a long-term workforce strategy," says NGCs founder, Rebecca Ryan. Although jobs are important, Ryan says, "The next generation is very savvy about choosing where they'll live. They look carefully at quality of life factors like how much time they're going to spend in traffic commuting, if they can live near a park or hike-and-bike trail, and whether a city's downtown stays awake after five." The Next Cities list ranks cities that are - or have the capacity to be - great places to live and work for the next generation, because they have the best overall score in the seven indexes the next gen values.

Noted economist Richard Florida underscores the large economic dividend paid to cities and regions that are talent magnets, noting in the April 2009 issue of The Atlantic that "The world's 40 largest mega-regions, which are home to some 18% of the world's population, produce two-thirds of global economic output and nearly nine in ten new patented innovations."

NEXT CITIES RANKED BY POPULATION

Mighty Micros - Next Cities with Population of 100,000-200,000

1.  Fort Collins, Colorado
2.  Charleston, South Carolina
3.  Eugene, Oregon
4.  Cedar Rapids, Iowa
5.  Springfield, Illinois
6.  Cary, North Carolina
7.  Ann Arbor, Michigan
8.  Sioux Falls, South Dakota
9.  Pueblo, Colorado
10.  Gainesville, Florida
11.  Stamford, Connecticut
12.  Des Moines, Iowa
13.  Spokane, Washington
14.  Syracuse, New York
15.  Huntsville, Alabama
16.  Peoria, Illinois
17.  Springfield, Missouri
18.  Salt Lake City, Utah
19.  Richmond, Virginia
20.  Hampton, Virginia

Midsized Magnets - Next Cities with Population of 200,000-500,000

1.  Madison, Wisconsin
2.  Minneapolis, Minnesota
3.  Colorado Springs, Colorado
4.  Atlanta, Georgia
5.  St. Paul, Minnesota
6.  Omaha, Nebraska
7.  Cincinnati, Ohio
8.  Boise, Idaho
9.  Durham, North Carolina
10.  New Orleans, Louisiana
11.  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
12.  Raleigh, North Carolina
13.  Lexington, Kentucky
14.  Virginia Beach, Virginia
15.  Lincoln, Nebraska
16.  Lubbock, Texas
17.  Reno, Nevada
18.  Norfolk, Virginia
19.  St. Louis, Missouri
20.  Orlando, Florida

Super Cities - Next Cities with Population over 500,000

1.  San Francisco, California
2.  Seattle, Washington
3.  Boston, Massachusetts
4.  Washington, District of Columbia
5.  Denver, Colorado
6.  Austin, Texas
7.  Baltimore, Maryland
8.  Portland, Oregon
9.  New York City, New York
10.  Columbus, Ohio
11.  Milwaukee, Wisconsin
12.  Charlotte, North Carolina
13.  Chicago, Illinois
14.  Nashville, Tennessee
15.  Jacksonville, Florida
16.  Tucson, Arizona
17.  San Antonio, Texas
18.  Los Angeles, California
19.  San Diego, California
20. Houston, Texas

For more information about the Next Cities rankings, including a description of each of the Seven Indexes and a PDF of the full report, Next Cities 2009-2010, visit us at http://nextgenerationconsulting.com/consulting/next-cities/

About Next Generation Consulting (NGC)
NGC has been studying the city and workplace preferences of the next generation since 1998. NGC has assisted with the workforce development efforts of dozens of cities and states including: Akron, OH; Canton, OH; Columbus, OH; the State of Iowa; the State of Vermont; Charlotte, NC; Nashville, TN; Birmingham, AL; Oswego County, NY; Quad Cities/Rock Island-Moline, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Brevard County, FL; Region of Louisville, KY; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Johnstown, PA; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Central Texas (Belton, Copperas Cove, Killeen and Temple, TX); and Wichita, KS.