Jersey City bounced back better from the Great Recession than Newark did, according to a new city.
WalletHub released a study comparing the 150 largest U.S. cities to measure how local economies are doing and how much recovery remains to be done. The cities were evaluated with 17 key economic metrics under two categories: Employment & Earning Opportunities, and Economic Environment.
The recession officially ended six years ago. And while many cities across the country have completely recovered—or even surpassed their pre-recession economic levels—others have continued to struggle. Fourteen municipalities have declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy since 2008, and others face increasing crime rates, decline in school rates, falling property values, collapse of local administrations and business shutdowns.
The 17 factors included unemployment rate, inflow of college-educated workers, ratio of part-time to full-time jobs, median household income, labor force participation rate, median home price, foreclosure rate, poverty rate, percentage of households receiving public assistance, population size, bankruptcy, number of businesses, average Experian VantageScore credit score, consumer non-housing debt, violent crime rate, gross metropolitan product and Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing.
Jersey City and Newark were the only New Jersey cities that made the list, and here’s how they ranked, from most-recovered to least-recovered states.
Jersey City (No. 16)
Newark (No. 106)
To see the full study, visit WalletHub.
