It’s no secret that California is an economic powerhouse. The golden state has the most fortune 500 companies with 51 and growing. For comparison, this means that the combined profits of companies within California are 38 percent more profitable than New York and a whopping 2,156 percent more profitable than Texas.
But doesn’t Silicon Valley skew these numbers? Surely the top 1 percent of companies within the state of California, such as Google, Oracle, Facebook, and others, skew these numbers.
Well, if you remove the technology and telecommunication sectors from the analysis, California still reigns supreme and remains the most profitable state in the U.S. The state is more profitable than New York, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, all of which are in the top ten most profitable states.
These numbers show us that something’s happening with the Californian economy. And the answer lies in Northern California. The Northern California region, from Silicon Valley to Sacramento and beyond, has become the engine that’s powering the most successful economy in the U.S. It’s created what’s known as a megaregion within California.
And at the tip lies Sacramento. With its budding local economy, growing population, access to higher education, and a diversified workforce, it’s become a gateway to this megaregion.
It’s about time your business took notice.
Sacramento and the Northern California Megaregion
Let’s start from the beginning. The Northern California megaregion is comprised of the Monterey Bay, Sacramento, San Francisco Bay Area, and the Northern San Joaquin Valley areas.
This megaregion is home to over 12 million people, which translates to over 30 percent of California’s entire population. The GDP of the region, also known as the Gross Regional Product or GRP, topped $875 billion in 2014, which is the highest per capita of any U.S. megaregion.
This population growth and the increase in the standard of living has caused the area to effectively shrink in that cities, counties, and isolated regions are now connected across wider geographies. To support these changes in the megaregion, local governments are focused on bettering transportation, such as the new rail service that links much of Northern California.
This, in turn, has increased mobility within the megaregion and now allows for cross-leveraged development and greater opportunities for employers and employees alike.
The Northern California megaregion truly is an amazing place to start and run a business. And at the tip of the region lies Sacramento, which acts as a gateway or corridor into the area.
The Greater Sacramento area is a one-hour drive to Berkeley, 90-minutes to San Francisco, and 90-minutes to San Jose. Compare this to the 90-minute commute between San Francisco and San Jose and it’s easy to see just how accessible Sacramento is to the rest of the megaregion.
Sacramento’s Unique Value Proposition
The increasing number of business opportunities in Sacramento has enticed people to relocate within the Northern California megaregion. Of the 200,000 people who leave the Bay Area each year, 18,000 move to the Greater Sacramento area, representing 8.8 percent of the whole.
The moves are largely prompted by Greater Sacramento’s unique ability to provide talent, affordability, and connections.
There is an existing pool of talent within the area. Additionally, schools such as UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and Stanford, among others, helps keep Sacramento’s pool filled to the brim with smart and ambitious people. For example, there are currently 318,000 4-year college students within a 90-minute drive of the Greater Sacramento area. In fact, Sacramento has the youngest workforce when compared to San Francisco, Seattle, and San Jose.
This younger population is more connected than ever before. As an example, of this younger population, 119,000 residents of the Greater Sacramento area commute to the Bay Area, and an additional 89,000 residents of the Bay Area commute to Greater Sacramento.
One of the reasons for this commute is that the Greater Sacramento area is more affordable than any other are within the megaregion. But that’s not to say that the area isn’t a desirable place to live. There is a $3.9 billion urban core development program that includes sports and entertainment initiatives, integrated rail lines, and an urban infill project that is expected to further increase the quality of living.
The result is a flourishing economy in the Greater Sacramento area that’ll only get better. The life sciences industry, for example, has seen an increase of 15 percent in jobs over the last five years, an average salary of $73,000, and has a projected industry growth of 23.9 percent.
Moving a Business to the Greater Sacramento Area
Relocating to Greater Sacramento helps businesses cut employee expenses by as much as a third. It increases the talent pool of future employees, seeing as 30 percent of all residents have a bachelor’s degree. Additionally, policymakers are working to reduce the requirements and timeframes for relocating to the area.
All of this is further proof that Greater Sacramento is the best place in the best megaregion to start a business.
It’s time you started thinking about a relocation.