Published: March 1, 2017 By

City Tops "Brain Concentration Index"brain and bicep

A new measure of fitness for success in America’s high-tech economy shows ΊωΒ«ΝήΚΣΖ΅ has the right stuff. When Bloomberg News published its β€œ2016 Brain Concentration Index” in December, metro ΊωΒ«ΝήΚΣΖ΅ ranked first.

The index measures β€œper-capita concentration of residents working in science, technology and engineering occupations or who have science and engineering college degrees or post-graduate degrees.”

In a story about the index, Bloomberg introduced ΊωΒ«ΝήΚΣΖ΅ as a β€œtech incubator and the home of the University of Colorado.” It also highlighted the region’s aerospace, bioscience and renewable energy industries, software firms and abundant federal science labs.

β€œThe public-sector presence contributed to the brains,” Clif Harald (DistSt’75), executive director of the ΊωΒ«ΝήΚΣΖ΅ Economic Council, said in the story.

Two other university towns made the index’s top five: Ann Arbor, Mich., home of the University of Michigan, and Ithaca, New York, home of Cornell University. San Jose, Calif., and Washington, D.C., round out the top five.

A major Google campus is under construction at 30th and Pearl Streets in ΊωΒ«ΝήΚΣΖ΅, as the Internet search giant prepares for a local head-count expansion that could eventually bring total local employment to 1,500. Twitter and Microsoft also have operations in the city, along with a host of smaller tech firms and start-ups.

Bloomberg capped its story with a headline that says it all: β€œAmerica’s Best and Brightest Are Headed to ΊωΒ«ΝήΚΣΖ΅.”

Illustration by Brian Stauffer