Showing Strength in Economic Development & City Ranking

We celebrate every regional and city ranking we receive because we’ve worked hard to achieve that level of excellence and because they provide easy evidence as to why even more businesses and people should call Northern Kentucky home.

In collaboration with REDI Cincinnati, BE NKY Growth Partnership earned recognition among the 20 top local and regional economic development organizations in the U.S. with a 2024 Mac Conway Award for Excellence in Economic Development from Site Selection magazine. This marks the tenth consecutive year the Cincinnati region has received the Mac Conway Award.

Northern Kentucky comprises seven of the 15 counties that make up the Greater Cincinnati region, with five counties in Southwest Ohio and four in Southeast Indiana. Kentucky counties contribute extensively to the region’s overall strength in both business climate and livability and benefit greatly from our proximity to world-class offerings of the City of Cincinnati. Regional and city ranking superlatives demonstrate it clearly year after year. Cincinnati ranked #7 in Clever Real Estate’s Best of 2022 City Rankings, coming in higher than both Cleveland and Columbus.

Here’s a sample of the many instances where the Cincinnati region reached the top one to five spots on metro and city ranking lists over recent years.

BEST REGIONAL AIRPORT IN NORTH AMERICA

– Skytrax World Airport Survey, 2023

TOP METROS IN FIBER DISTRIBUTION

– Duke Energy, 2021

US METRO FOR SUSTAINABILITY

– Site Selection Magazine, 2022

MARKET RIPE FOR FUTURE TECH GROWTH

– Zillow, 2020

MOST ECONOMICALLY DIVERSE MSA IN UNITED STATES

– Chmura Economics & Analytics, JobsEQ, 2022

BEST CITY IN THE NATION FOR COLLEGE GRADS

– SmartAsset, 2022

BEST AIRPORT IN NORTH AMERICA SERVING 2-5 MILLION PASSENGERS

– Skytrax World Airport Survey, 2021

CITY TO WORK FROM HOME

– Apartment Guide, 2021

PLACE TO LAUNCH YOUR CAREER

– LinkedIn, 2020

MOST UNTAPPED CITY FOR STARTUPS

– Fundera, 2019

CITY WHERE YOUR DOLLAR STRETCHES THE FURTHEST

– Policy Genius, 2018

LOWEST COST OF LIVING, MAJOR METROS

– Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2019

BEST CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL IN THE U.S.

– U.S. News., 2023-2024

BEST CITY FOR FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS

– Lending Tree, 2019

BEST U.S. CITY FOR HYBRID WORKERS

– CommercialSearch, 2023

ZOO IN THE NATION

– USA Today, 2022 and 2021

BEST BEER CITY IN U.S.

– Real Estate Witch, 2023

BEST BOTANICAL GARDENS IN THE NATION (CINCINNATI ZOO & BOTANICAL GARDENS)

– USA Today, 2022

CITY FOR BEST PARKS IN THE COUNTRY

– The Trust for Public Land, 2022

BEST CITY FOR RECREATION

– WalletHub, 2021