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Charleston is ranked number four on Resonance Consultancy’s America’s Best Small Cities for 2018. “For more than a decade, Resonance has created place-branding strategies, tourism and economic development plans and trend reports for city, tourism and economic development organizations,” says Resonance President and CEO Chris Fair. “We do this to empower cities with new tools and perspectives on the key factors that shape a city’s competitive identity, community well-being, and future prosperity.”
Resonance Consultancy has come to understand that traditional indicators for economic, social and livability factors used in most rankings don’t reveal the whole story for each city and their tourism and economic development agencies.
As a result, the Resonance Consultancy Best Cities ranking analyze and compare 28 factors in six key categories: a combination of core statistics measure that traditional economic, social and livability factors, as well as user-generated ratings and reviews to benchmark the experiential qualities of each city. The six categories are:
Place: Based on the city’s natural and built environments, including the subcategories of Air Quality, Weather, Crime Rate, Neighborhoods & Landmarks, Parks & Outdoor Activities, and Commute Time to Work.
Product: Based on city’s key institutions, attractions, and infrastructure, including the subcategories of University Rankings, Airport Connectivity, Convention Center Size, Entertainment, Museums, Sports Teams, and Housing Affordability.
Programming: Based on the city’s arts, culture, entertainment and culinary scene in a city, including the subcategories of Shopping, Culture, Culinary, and Nightlife
People: Based on the city’s immigration rate and diversity of a city, including the subcategories of Education, Foreign-born Residents, and Languages Spoken at Home.
Prosperity: Based on the city’s employment, GDP per capita and corporate head offices, including the subcategories of Unemployment, Household Income, and Fortune 500 Companies.
Promotion: Based on the city’s quantity of stories, references and recommendations shared online about a city, including the subcategories of Google Search Results, Google Trends, Facebook Check-ins, Instagram Hashtags and TripAdvisor Reviews.
An average of the city’s rankings in each of the categories is used to determine the overall Best Small Cities in America.
Best Small Cities in America (Population Under 1 Million)
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Charleston, South Carolina
- El Paso, Texas
- Reno, Nevada
- Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- Asheville, North Carolina
