Richmond is the seventh-best city in the nation for business, according to MarketWatch.
In its fourth annual ranking of the best cities for business, the financial news company placed the Richmond region between Denver and New York City among the top 10.
Richmond dropped off MarketWatch's top 10 cities list last year, but it returned this year in part because of its proximity to this year's top city, Washington.
"Richmond boasts the best of both worlds; it's about an hour and a half to metro Washington by car, yet it's a lower-cost, relatively smaller city," MarketWatch reported. "When times are hard, it doesn't necessarily feel the pain as much."
The region also scored high because of its concentration of S&P 500 companies and a relatively low unemployment rate during the past four years.
The region scored low in tourism and personal income, and it did not see much job creation this year, MarketWatch said.
MarketWatch ranked 102 cities with metro-area populations of 500,000 or more, based on factors such as unemployment and personal income growth.
The top 10 cities were Washington; Omaha, Neb.; Boston; Des Moines, Iowa; Minneapolis; Denver; Richmond; New York; Harrisburg, Pa.; and Seattle.
jblackwell@timesdispatch.com
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