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Many pundits are pointing to a recession from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic. However, a recent study by SmartAsset shows that Idahoans can take solace, knowing that we may not be as affected as some other areas in the country.
The recent study looked at the most recession-resistant cities for 2020. The company examined nine metrics across three overarching categories: employment, housing, and social assistance, as they pertained to the largest 264 metropolitan areas in the U.S.
The employment category takes into account the current unemployment rate, change in the unemployment rate during the Great Recession from 2007 through 2010, and the current labor force participation rate. The housing category factors in housing costs as a percentage of income, change in home value during the Great Recession, and the mortgage delinquency rate. The social assistance category looks at the portion of the population relying on public assistance, the average annual amount of aid per household, and state rainy-day funds as a percentage of state expenditures.
SmartAsset’s report ranked each city in each of the categories mentioned above, providing a total of nine areas of measurement. It then averaged the metric rankings of each category, giving each an equal weight. The final ranking was determined by averaging each location’s score in each category for a final score.
As the headline teased, Boise finds itself 12th on the list, joining West Valley City, UT, and Sunnyvale, CA, as the only other cities from the western part of the U.S. to make the top 25. Interestingly, Texas had eight of its cities in the top 25, with five being in the top ten.
Cities were ranked based on a scale of 0 to 100, with cities closer to a score of 100 being the least likely to experience a recession, and those with a lower score were more prone to a recession. Boise scored an index of 76.05.
