Benchmarking the Ann Arbor Region – 2018 update released

Ann Arbor SPARK first undertook this research in 2017. This is an update to the original study and includes the same metrics with changes from the year before.

The goal of this report is to take the pulse of the Ann Arbor region in comparison to a specific competitive set of technology-driven communities and their economies. The purpose of this study is to compare ourselves to peer communities on more foundational metrics and to ask ourselves where and how we can do better.

The metrics reviewed include:

• Venture Capital Activity
• Population Movement
• Housing Affordability
• Labor Market
• Driving Industry Employment

We compared the Ann Arbor region to several other regions around the United States, including:

• Bloomington, Indiana
• Boulder, Colorado
• Berkeley, California
• Madison, Wisconsin
• Portland, Oregon
• Austin, Texas
• Michigan and U.S. averages

Melissa Sheldon

As the director of research for Ann Arbor SPARK, Melissa Sheldon leads the organization’s business and economic research initiatives. Melissa is an experienced workforce development professional with experience overseeing regional workforce training initiatives and research projects. Prior to joining SPARK, Melissa held various roles with the Workforce Intelligence Network for Southeast Michigan and the Michigan Works! system.

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