Metro-level location fundamentals for site selection — workforce, power, sites, and operating cost
For economic development organizations, site selection consultants and corporate real estate teams: sourced indicators for 24 US metros, six survey-weighted categories, 12 topic pages and 30 head-to-head comparisons.
Data updated:
Geography: CBSA (metropolitan statistical area), OMB Bulletin 23-01 (July 2023) — never city limits.
Sourced indicators
Metro Fundamentals Table
Published values for all 24 CBSAs. State-level figures use the principal state of the CBSA, and unemployment is shown for context rather than ranking. Composite calculations are not published. Figures shown are taken directly from the cited sources without adjustment.
Select a column heading to sort. Default view is alphabetical by CBSA title.
| State convention | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro AreaCBSA 12060 | 7.21 cents/kWh | 18 of 50 | 3.2% | 3.4% | Georgia |
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro AreaCBSA 12420 | 6.12 cents/kWh | 7 of 50 | 4% | 3.6% | Texas |
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro AreaCBSA 14460 | 18.19 cents/kWh | 43 of 50 | 4.3% | 4.5% | Massachusetts |
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro AreaCBSA 16740 | 7.77 cents/kWh | 13 of 50 | 3.7% | 4.2% | North Carolina |
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro AreaCBSA 16980 | 8.83 cents/kWh | 38 of 50 | 4.9% | 4.7% | Illinois |
Columbus, OH Metro AreaCBSA 18140 | 7.1 cents/kWh | 39 of 50 | 3.2% | 4.5% | Ohio |
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro AreaCBSA 19100 | 6.12 cents/kWh | 7 of 50 | 4.6% | 4.2% | Texas |
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro AreaCBSA 19740 | 8.62 cents/kWh | 33 of 50 | 4.1% | 4% | Colorado |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metro AreaCBSA 26900 | 8.15 cents/kWh | 10 of 50 | 3.4% | 3.8% | Indiana |
Kansas City, MO-KS Metro AreaCBSA 28140 | 7.87 cents/kWh | 12 of 50 | 3.8% | 4.3% | Missouri |
Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV Metro AreaCBSA 29820 | 8.64 cents/kWh | 20 of 50 | 5.4% | 5.9% | Nevada |
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro AreaCBSA 33100 | 8.5 cents/kWh | 5 of 50 | 3.7% | 3.5% | Florida |
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro AreaCBSA 33460 | 9.15 cents/kWh | 44 of 50 | 4.4% | 3.8% | Minnesota |
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro AreaCBSA 34980 | 6.21 cents/kWh | 8 of 50 | 3% | 3.3% | Tennessee |
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro AreaCBSA 36740 | 8.5 cents/kWh | 5 of 50 | 4.7% | 4.1% | Florida |
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro AreaCBSA 38060 | 7.9 cents/kWh | 14 of 50 | 4.8% | 4.3% | Arizona |
Pittsburgh, PA Metro AreaCBSA 38300 | 7.87 cents/kWh | 36 of 50 | 3.7% | 4.6% | Pennsylvania |
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro AreaCBSA 38900 | 8.05 cents/kWh | 35 of 50 | 4.9% | 5.2% | Oregon |
Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro AreaCBSA 39580 | 7.77 cents/kWh | 13 of 50 | 3.2% | 3.4% | North Carolina |
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT Metro AreaCBSA 41620 | 7.86 cents/kWh | 15 of 50 | 3.5% | 3.7% | Utah |
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro AreaCBSA 41700 | 6.12 cents/kWh | 7 of 50 | 4.7% | 4.2% | Texas |
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA Metro AreaCBSA 41740 | 21.53 cents/kWh | 48 of 50 | 4.7% | 5% | California |
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro AreaCBSA 42660 | 6.61 cents/kWh | 45 of 50 | 5% | 4.6% | Washington |
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro AreaCBSA 45300 | 8.5 cents/kWh | 5 of 50 | 4.8% | 4.1% | Florida |
A low unemployment rate indicates a tight labor market, which can make hiring harder. It is shown for context, not ranked.
Open individual metro pages for source, vintage and geography details on each value.
What the dataset covers
Location Intelligence for Business Decisions
Independent metro indicators for corporate site selection and economic development benchmarking.
Metro Data Pages
CBSA-level pages showing loaded indicators with source, vintage, unit and geography notes for each value.
Metro pagesLocation Topic Pages
Industry and use-case pages for manufacturing, logistics, data centers and corporate functions, currently showing underlying data only.
TopicsCity-vs-City Comparisons
Side-by-side tables using the same sourced indicators for two CBSAs, with no directional claim inferred from incomplete data.
ComparisonsResearch Notes
Short notes that answer one site selection question each, with the source and vintage of every figure.
InsightsMethodology
How the Data Is Published
Define the CBSA geography
Each metro page uses the metropolitan statistical area, not city limits. State-level inputs use the state of the first principal city and are labelled as state-level data.
Load published indicators
Every displayed value carries its source, vintage, unit and geography level. Current indicators cover industrial electricity price, tax rank and unemployment context.
Hold composites until coverage is sufficient
Aggregate calculations are not published from incomplete inputs. Missing inputs remain marked as not available and are not estimated or interpolated.
Document weights and limits
The six categories follow Area Development's 2026 factor importance survey, with limitations and update history published in the methodology.
Readership
Built for Site Selection and Economic Development
Economic Development Organizations
Sourced benchmarks of a region against the peer metros a prospect is also evaluating.
- Peer-metro benchmarking by category
- Power, workforce and cost gaps to address
- Citable sources and vintages for board and prospect materials
Site Selection Consultants
Metro-level long-list screening before site visits, utility load studies and incentive negotiation.
- Long-list to short-list metro screening
- Power and grid-market context by metro
- Head-to-head metro comparisons
Corporate Real Estate Teams
Comparable CBSA-level data for portfolio, expansion and consolidation decisions.
- Facility-type rankings (manufacturing, logistics, data centers, HQ)
- Operating cost structure by metro
- Workforce and talent pipeline depth
Researchers and Analysts
Structured location data, documented methodology, and comparable metrics across metros.
- Sourced location intelligence data
- Standardized metro metrics
- Trend analysis across geographies
Editorial standards
How This Research Is Produced
- Source-First Publication
- Every displayed figure links back to a named source, dataset and vintage before it appears on a metro page.
- No Unsupported Composites
- Composite outputs are withheld until the relevant categories have enough sourced indicator coverage.
- Objective and Unbiased Analysis
- No sponsored placement and no paid market positioning. Pages show the values currently supported by the data layer.
- Built for Comparison
- Metros can be compared directly on a consistent CBSA basis, with state-level inputs clearly labelled when used.
By use case
Explore Location Topics by Use Case
| Use case | Data status | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Retail Expansion | Topic page retained for metro screening; composite ranking withheld until relevant sourced retail indicators are loaded. | Open |
| Manufacturing and Industrial Growth | Industrial electricity price, tax rank and labor-market context, with power and site-readiness gaps disclosed. | Open |
| Data Center and Large-Load Siting | CBRE H1 2026 capacity, preleasing and vacancy figures, plus industrial power price and utility context. | Open |
| Distribution and Logistics | Topic page retained for logistics screening; composite ranking withheld until comparable market-access indicators are loaded. | Open |
Where to start
Navigate the Dataset
- Metro pagesRaw indicators for every covered CBSA
- Location topicsUse-case pages with current publication status
- Head-to-head comparisonsTwo metros, identical indicators
- MethodologySources, category weights, limitations and updates
Sources used on this page
- U.S. Energy Information Administration. Electric Power Annual, Table 2.10, Year 2024 final.
- Tax Foundation. 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index, 2026 edition (tax systems as of July 1, 2025).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release, Table 1, Released September 2, 2026; July 2026 preliminary and July 2025 reference months.
- Area Development, 40th Annual Corporate and 22nd Annual Consultant Site Selection Survey, Q1 2026. Category weights only; no composite calculation is published.
Composite calculations are not published. Figures shown are taken directly from the cited sources without adjustment.
All figures are reported at the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level as delineated by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, not city limits. Where a series is only published at state level, that is stated in the indicator table. Full source provenance and category weights.