High-Tech, Innovation and Entrepreneurialism
- According to Milken Institute, Brevard boasts the most concentrated high-tech economy in the state of Florida and the 16th most concentrated in the nation.
- BizJournals ranked Brevard 8th in a list of the country’s Top 100 U.S. Tech Centers in 2009.
- Florida ranks 4th in the nation in terms of high-tech employment and 3rd for its number of high-tech business locations.
- Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville is among the top 3 (of 360) metropolitan areas in the United States for concentration of Electrical Engineers and Technicians.
- Palm Bay, Florida ranks 11th on Forbes' first-ever ranking of America's Most Innovative Cities.
- Florida tied with Georgia for 6th place on the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.
- Florida ranked 6th on the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council's "Small Business Survival Index 2009: Ranking the Policy Environment for Entrepreneurship Across the Nation."
- According to Harvard Business School’s Institute of Strategy and Competitiveness, Brevard receives 13 patents for every 10,000 workers, more than double the national average of 6.4.
Business Structure and Taxes
- The Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville MSA took the #18 spot on Forbes Magazine’s Best-Bang-For-The-Buck Cities annual list in 2009.
- Florida ranked among the Top 10 states on Chief Executive's annual survey of best and worst states for business.
- Florida ranks 5th best business tax climate in the United States, better than any state in the entire Northeast and Southeast according to the Tax Foundation’s 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index.
- CNBC ranked Florida #1 in the nation for it's Workforce in the annual America's Top States for Business rankings.
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Chamber Foundation have ranked Florida #1 for infrastructure and #2 for workforce development & training.
Industry
- Business Xpansion Journal and BizMiner have ranked Florida 3rd in the nation for both Medical Devices Startups and New Branches. Florida also ranks 7th for Medical Devices Employment.
- Florida ranks #1 for aerospace start-ups and new branches and #8 for aerospace employment according to BizMiner in the August issue of Business Xpansion Journal.
- According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, just under one-third of all aerospace employees in Florida work in Brevard County.
Education
- According to Newsweek, Florida schools account for 1 out of every 12 of the best high schools in the nation.
- Florida public schools ranked 8th overall in Education Week magazine's annual Quality Counts.
- Brevard Public Schools ranked third in the state with 98% of schools receiving a grade of A or B.