Which U.S. Cities Offer the Most Economic Security?

With the U.S. economy still pulling itself out of a recession and the European Union on the brink of its own catastrophic collapse, the idea of economic security may seem like an extinct concept. Things are undoubtedly bad all over the U.S., but the badness is highly uneven, with some areas faring far better – dare we say more prosperously – than others. A new interactive map from the Urban Institute highlights the geography of economic security in the U.S., focusing on the 100 most populous metropolitan areas.

By combining data on unemployment, declines in home values in recent years, housing affordability and the rate of serious mortgage delinquency, the map offers a more robust look at the interrelated elements affecting economic security in the country’s metro areas, assigning letter grades and numeric rankings.