---
title: 'Corvallis and Portland metro area rank #1 and #2 for highest annnualized productivity growth over the last decade'
date: '2013-10-02T10:46:02-07:00'
type: post
word_count: 322
char_count: 2359
tokens: 419
categories:
  - '#featured'
  - Corvallis
  - Oregon
  - Portland
  - Startups
tags:
  - Corvallis
  - Portland
  - productivity
---

# Corvallis and Portland metro area rank #1 and #2 for highest annnualized productivity growth over the last decade

If there’s one thing that Portland—and perhaps Oregon as whole—has proven, it’s that we’re in it for the long haul. And our plans? Well, sometimes they take a while to pay off. A long while. [Like city planning which originated 40 years ago that’s just beginning to come to fruition](http://siliconflorist.com/2013/09/10/overthrow-successful-city-making-portland-great-portland/ "How do you overthrow a successful city? Making Portland the next great Portland").

And now, [Richard Florida has just hit upon something else](http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2013/09/great-growth-disconnect-population-growth-does-not-equal-economic-growth/5860/ "The Great Growth Disconnect: Population Growth Does Not Equal Economic Growth") the region has done well over the past decade: productivity. Where Corvallis ranks first, and the Portland metro area comes in second.

What sort of productivity you ask? It’s an assessment of gross domestic product per capita for the region.

![Productivity assessment](https://i0.wp.com/cdn.theatlanticcities.com/img/upload/2013/06/20/gdp_growthcapitaweb.jpg?resize=608%2C465)

> The second map charts average annual productivity growth across U.S. metros, as measured by growth in real GDP per capita… Taken together, these top ten leaders in productivity growth averaged population growth of 0.88 percent per year, beneath the metro average of around 1 percent per year. These metros were able to substantially increase their productivity without substantially growing their populations. Boulder, for example, which has been lauded as a center for innovation and start-up companies, was able to substantially increase its productivity while seeing its population decline.

For a region that often gets shouldered with the “Portland lazy” moniker, this a welcome assessment of how productive we really are. And how startups and knowledge workers are positively impacting the productivity of our region.

For more, read the [annualized productivity assessment in Atlantic Cities](http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2013/09/great-growth-disconnect-population-growth-does-not-equal-economic-growth/5860/ "The Great Growth Disconnect: Population Growth Does Not Equal Economic Growth").