We’re all creative, right? But technically, the term "creative industry" is one used mainly for jobs in digital, the arts, architecture, acting, music, design, building, marketing and more. Creative professionals drive communities to be better and, through their work help them grow – and now a new ranking finds Milwaukee in the top 15 in the country when it comes to best places for these types of jobs.
SmartAsset considered data for 181 metro areas, and "compared them against these two metrics: concentration of creative jobs and cost of living." In the end, Milwaukee landed at number 12. (Fellow Sconnie city Green Bay landed a few spaces behind at 17.)
Here's the full ranking of creative cities:
Top 25 cities for creative professionals in 2019
25. Raleigh, NC
24. Rochester, NY
23. Fayetteville, AR
22. Lincoln, NE
21. Orlando, FL
20. Des Moines, IA
19. Springfield, MO
18. Fort Wayne, IN
17. Green Bay, WI
16. Omaha, NE
15. St. Louis, MO
14. Austin, TX
13. Tampa, FL
12. Milwaukee, WI
11. Detroit, MI
10. Kansas City, MO
9. Durham, NC
8. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
7. Atlanta, GA
6. Salt Lake City, UT
5. South Bend, IN
4. Los Angeles, CA
3. Nashville, TN
2. Provo, UT
1. Savannah, GA
Artistic and creative-types, you are all welcome in greater Milwaukee. Well, everyone is. Milwaukee’s open for creative business.
Want another read on creativity? Check out this Fast Company piece with Fred Arminson.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
