Drawing power for startups

Portland may be a magnet for entrepreneurs and employees seeking a hip living environment, but when it comes to reality over reputation, the North State has better cred. In assessing a community’s business environment, economists use a “quality of place” score to gauge lifestyle attributes. The higher the score, the more potential business owners and highly skilled workers from outside the region find an area attractive—thus, are more likely to move and stay. Butte County, judged along with Glenn and Tehama counties, outscored Portland by nearly 2 points this year. With 100 representing the national average, here are some notable quality-of-place numbers:

North State: 117.5

Portland: 115.7

Reno: 110

Sacramento: 98.5

Yuba City: 91.3

Redding: 87.4

Source: Center for Economic Development