Sioux Falls
The city of Sioux Falls was chartered in 1856 on the banks of the Big Sioux River. It is the largest city in the State of South Dakota. It is also the 47th fastest growing city in the United States.
As of the 2010 census, Sioux Falls had a population of 153,888 and a metropolitan area population of 228,261. Sioux Falls and the surrounding areas are sometimes referred to as the Sioux Empire.
The community wide effort in Sioux Falls helps to maintain one of the healthiest environments in the nation in which to live and work. An example of the accolades below:
CNN Money Magazine thinks Sioux Falls is one of America's Best Places to Live (July 2010). In its annual survey, the magazine named the city No. 77, citing how Sioux Falls has weathered the economic storm better than most other communities, the number of employment opportunities, affordable homes and top-notch health care facilities.
Sioux Falls is one of the best cities for families, according to Parenting Magazine (June 2010). Thanks to a low crime rate, rare traffic congestion and little pollution, South Dakota's largest city ranks No. 11 overall. Sioux Falls ranks No. 3 when ranked by both health and economy.
Sioux Falls is No. 1 — again! Forbes magazine picked the city as its Best Small City for Business and Careers for eight years running (April 2010). Forbes ranked areas on 12 metrics, including: costs (business and living), job growth (past and projected), income growth, educational attainment and projected economic growth. Quality-of-life issues like crime, cultural and recreational opportunities as well as net migration patters were also factored in.
Sioux Falls placed No. 12 out of 124 small cities ranked in the 2009 Best-Performing Cities index. Sioux Falls leaped 11 spots from the 2008 list. The rankings, which were jointly released by the Milken Institute and Greenstreet Real Estate Partners, primarily focused on job creation, wage gains, concentration of technology firms and technology growth (November 2009).
Sioux Falls was named a 2009 Fall Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) by the League of American Bicyclists, receiving a "bronze" designation. The application process to become a BFC is rigorous; currently only 124 of the 318 total applicants have a BFC four-year designation. The renewal process and four levels of the award — platinum, gold, silver and bronze — provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve (October 2009).
Sioux Falls was ranked as "America's Safest City" for the fourth consecutive year by Allstate Insurance Co. The annual report ranks America's 200 largest cities in terms of car collision frequency to identify which cities have the safest drivers; according to the report, the average Sioux Falls driver will experience an auto collision every 13.5 years (July 2009).
Sioux Falls was ranked No. 16 in Outdoor Life's "Top 200 Towns for Sportsmen." The magazine compiled a list of the top communities for people who love the outdoors but don't want to sacrifice decent homes and schools, good-paying jobs and everyday amenities. This is the second year for the survey. The communities chosen "offer affordable housing, low unemployment rates and the potential to earn a decent living, all within a short drive of first-rate hunting and fishing," according to the web site. Pierre, the only other South Dakota city in the Top 20, ranked No. 8 (June 2009).
Sioux Falls ranked No. 8 on Next Generation Consulting's Mighty Micros list for "Next Cities" for 20-40 year old workers. NGC, a national consulting firm based in Madison, Wis., interviewed 39,000 young professionals and studied residential and relocation patterns of 20-40 year olds to determine the rankings. Scores were based on 45 measures in seven indexes including earning, learning, vitality, around town, after hours, cost of lifestyle and social capital (June 2009).
South Dakota has the nation's most attractive tax system for small businesses and entrepreneurs, according to the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council's Business Tax Index 2009.
South Dakota has a small but fast-growing piece of America's clean energy economy. Jobs in the state's clean energy economic sector grew 19 times faster annually than total jobs between 1998-2007. The state has attracted an increasing number of clean energy economy jobs despite a lack of venture capital investments and little research activity in clean technologies. South Dakota has the potential to power 50 percent of the nation's electricity demands through its wind. South Dakota recently allowed wind producers to begin selling their wind power and renewable energy credits. Nationally, jobs in the clean energy economy grew by 9.1 percent in that same time period (Pew Charitable Trusts, June 2009).
The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis says South Dakota had the nation's third-largest economic growth at 3.5 percent in its real gross domestic product in 2008, which is the output of goods and services produced by labor and property.
Sioux Falls was named No. 1 on Forbes' list of Best Small Places for Business and Careers — for seven years in a row (April 2009).
Sioux Falls is among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the nation and one of only two metro areas in the Midwest to make the top 50 according to a U.S. Census Bureau report (March 2009). From July 1, 2007-July 1, 2008, the Sioux Falls MSA grew by almost 6,000 people to 232,930, ranking it No. 19 on the list with a growth rate of 2.6 percent. Lincoln County was the 12th fastest-growing county in the nation at a rate of 5.3 percent during that same time period.
South Dakota is one of the freest states in the country, according to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University (February 2009). The study ranked all states on their public policies affecting individual freedoms in the economic, social and personal spheres. South Dakota tied for first with New Hampshire and Colorado and all three states were recognized for their low taxes and government spending and middling levels of regulation and paternalism.
For the third year in a row, Sioux Falls was named a finalist for the National Organization on Disabilities' Accessible America Award. The city was recognized as a national model for its focus on disability issues and successful design of programs, services and facilities that are accessible for citizens and visitors who have disabilities. (March 2009)
Sioux Falls earned the distinction as a healthy city to live and retire in from AARP the Magazine, which cited health care and fit residents as criteria for the selection. In an online exclusive, Sioux Falls was ranked No. 11 in AARP's poll. Based on the selection criteria, Sioux Falls received high marks for having healthy, educated residents who are among the fittest in the country. A contributing asset is the city's extensive bike trails circling the city and linking its 70 parks to the crown jewel: Falls Park. The city also received healthy bragging rights, coming in first for the number of hospital beds, and number two for teaching hospitals per capita. Sioux Falls also has 314 physicians per 100,000 residents compared to the U.S. average of 223. Additionally, the city has a high percentage of oncologists and cardiologist per capita, a low percentage of residents who smoke and drink alcohol, and a high percentage — 93.4 percent — of residents who have a health plan (September 2008).
Forbes.com named Sioux Falls among the top cities in America for new jobs. Forbes writes, "Despite recent economic news, financial services are flourishing in Sioux Falls." The ranking goes on to cite the strength of Citigroup, Wells Fargo, HSBC, and Premier Bankcard, and the Sioux Falls medical community. Forbes.com used data from a recent employment survey by Manpower. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey takes a quarterly measurement of whether employers intend to increase or decrease their workforce. Each employer is asked, "How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of June 2009 compared with the current quarter?" From these responses, a net employment outlook is determined. Sioux Falls received a net employment outlook of plus 14 percent, which ranks the city fifth out of 201 metropolitan areas surveyed (March 2009).
Kiplinger.com ranked Sioux Falls No. 7 out of the top 10 cities in the nation with the lowest overall tax burden. These cities came out on top of the 2007-2008 District of Columbia survey of state and local tax burdens for the largest city in each state, plus D.C. (March 2009).
The Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked Sioux Falls No. 1 as the best place to seek a job due to the city's low unemployment rates in July 2008. The BLS stated low unemployment rates seem harder to come by in today's economy and 92 percent of cities have seen an increase in their unemployment rates. Sioux Falls is bucking trends with its low unemployment rates and sizable job growth (careerbuilder.com, October 2008).
For the fifth straight year, the Pollina Report named South Dakota as one of the nation's top 10 pro-business states, ranking No. 6. The Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States is a comparative evaluation of job creation and retention efforts of all 50 state governments and the federal government. States are ranked and evaluated on 29 factures, including: taxes, human resources, right-to-work legislation, energy costs, infrastructure spending, workers' compensation legislation and jobs lost or gained. The list is published annually by Chicago-based Pollina Corporate Real Estate. South Dakota placed No. 7 in 2007.
Sioux Falls drivers topped Allstate Insurance's list in their annual "America's Best Drivers Report." Sioux Falls has ranked No. 1 for three years running (spring 2008).
Organic Gardening magazine named Sioux Falls fifth on its list of nation's cities working to make neighborhoods healthier and more sustainable (February/March 2008 issue). The country's 50 largest cities and the largest cities in each state were graded on nine different points, including air and water quality, green space, number of U.S. Green Building Council-rated buildings, availability of locally grown food and the percentage of households with flower or vegetable garden.
The Boyd Co. calculated the annual operating costs for running a hypothetical 125,000-square-foot data center with 75 employees in 45 cities. Sioux Falls was ranked the least expensive place to open a data center with these criteria (Business Week, August 2008).
Sioux Falls ranked No. 9 on Moody's Economy.com Business Vitality Index that rates the overall economic vitality of a metro area by looking at a range of factors rather than just one measure. The 2007 index takes into account current economic conditions such as household income growth, factors that affect prospective conditions including labor availability and regional cost structure and potential risks such as employment volatility.
Sioux Falls' tap water is among the cleanest in the country, according to Forbes.com. In a report published in spring 2008, Forbes ranks Sioux Falls' water the third cleanest in the country, behind only Des Moines and Austin. The rankings are based on levels of the cloudiness of water; bacteria; halo acetic acids, a byproduct of drinking water disinfection; and lead. To create the list, Forbes.com examined data from consumer confidence reports provided annually by community water systems and compiled by University of Cincinnati researchers in 2006 in its "United States Drinking Water Quality Study Report."
Sioux Falls moved up the ranks in Inc.com's Best U.S. Cities for Doing Business, coming in at No. 51 overall and No. 29 on the list of the top small cities. The 2008 list focuses on short- and long-term job growth and is gauged at informing entrepreneurs of some of the best places to locate or expand businesses. In 2007, Sioux Falls ranked No. 74.
Sioux Falls was included in Fortune Small Business's inaugural list of the 100 Best Places to Live and Launch. Cities were ranked on a range of criteria, including housing prices, schools, cultural and recreational attractions, quality of labor force, taxes and regulatory climate. The city was lauded for its business-friendly tax structure and ranked No. 45 overall. (April 2008)
Between 2006-07, the city of Sioux Falls increased its population by 2.5 percent, again making it the fastest growing metropolitan area that's completely in the Midwest, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. Nationwide, Sioux Falls ranked as the 36th fastest growing metro area.
Sioux Falls was named one of the top nine most handicapped accessible cities in America by the National Organization on Disability in 2007.
Sioux Falls is ranked No. 5 among the nation's least-costly, mid-sized metropolitan areas to do business, according to KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm. Of 14 U.S. locations with populations between 100,000 and 500,000, Sioux Falls ranked fifth for lowest overall costs to do business. Sioux Falls, with a cost index of 97.4 (about 3 percent below the U.S. national average), was helped by the second lowest property tax rates among cities in its category. KPMG's 2008 Competitive Alternatives study measured 27 significant cost components that are most likely to vary by location, including labor, taxes, real estate and utilities as they applied to 17 industries, over a 10-year planning horizon. Data on a variety of non-cost competitive factors also was compared. The study enables companies to perform a "quick scan" of jurisdictions to determine which can offer a cost-competitive business environment. In 2006, the city placed seventh in the survey.
Sioux Falls is home to great schools, shopping, great organizations and great events. Visit the following links to find out more! And let Real Estate Retrievers SD-IA be the first to say Welcome to Sioux Falls and Welcome Home!
http://www.SiouxFalls.org
www.SiouxFalls.com
www.siouxfallschamber.com
www.siouxfallscvb.com
http://www.sf.k12.sd.us/
http://www.argusleader.com/
http://www.dtsf.com/
www.lifelight.org
www.theempiremall.com
www.sculpturewalksiouxfalls.com
http://www.washingtonpavilion.org/
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