Bend-Redmond Ranks #4 Nationally for Best-Performing Small Cities — 10 Consecutive Years in the Top Tier

The Bend-Redmond metropolitan area has been ranked fourth among small cities in the Milken Institute’s 2026 Best-Performing Cities report — a two-place improvement since 2024 — marking the region’s tenth consecutive year among the nation’s top-performing small city MSAs. A separate first-of-its-kind economic analysis conducted by the City of Bend identified healthcare, bioscience, tourism, and technology as the four sectors growing fastest in the city — even as tourism and construction remain vital to the local economy, with about 28% of Bend’s workforce now holding remote jobs, well above the national average. Economic Development for Central Oregon’s newly released 2026 Largest Employers List shows the top 50 private companies in the region collectively employ nearly 23,000 workers — roughly 21% of Central Oregon’s total non-farm employment — with traded-sector companies showing particularly strong growth this year. For NW contractors, this sustained economic strength reinforces what we’ve covered repeatedly in Predictive Pipeline: Central Oregon’s growth is broad-based and durable, not a short-term spike, which continues to support construction demand across residential, commercial, and institutional sectors in the region. Washington State Department of Transportation + 2

Source URL: https://www.edcoinfo.com/about-the-area/economic-indicators