Steady production from local high-tech industries in the Flagstaff region has helped keep the metropolitan area on a list of the best-performing cities across the nation.

The Milken Institute, an independent public-policy think tank, recently ranked the Flagstaff metropolitan area 21st on its list of 179 small cities.

The Flagstaff Metropolitan Area includes most of northern Arizona and a small section of southern Utah.

The study used several criteria to rank the 179 communities, each with a population under 235,000.

Flagstaff has been ranked by the Milken Institute since 2004 and receives high ratings primarily because of growth at W.L. Gore & Associates and the good salaries that come with those jobs.

The report, released Wednesday, ranked the northern Arizona region as fourth in the nation among small cities in terms of high tech production for a five-year period.

azdailysun.com