Mayor Donna Deegan speaks about Oxford Economics ranking Jacksonville a top 5 city to watch in North America during a news conference Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, at City Hall. | Mike Mendenhall, Jacksonville Today
Published on September 15, 2026 at 4:48 pm
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The independent global advisory firm Oxford Economics named Jacksonville a top five North American city to watch in its annual Global Cities Index.
Jacksonville’s city and business leaders held a news conference Tuesday at City Hall to celebrate the city’s position on the index and reaffirm their goal to make Jacksonville a top 50 city globally by 2032.
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Mayor Donna Deegan says the city’s improving economic metrics noted in Oxford’s recognition are “not a partisan issue.”
The Democratic mayor was joined at the news conference by City Council President Nick Howland, a Republican; Jacksonville Civic Council President and CEO Dennis Whittle; and Daniel Davis, Jax Chamber president and CEO and Deegan’s opponent in the 2023 mayoral election.
“Just last week, we opened the UF Jacksonville campus, and we were recognized for having the fastest-growing workforce in the country,” Deegan said. “We already know what’s happening in this city — the investment, the growth, the opportunity we’re building in Downtown and every neighborhood. It’s wonderful to see the rest of the world beginning to recognize it too.”
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Oxford Economics’ index currently ranks Jacksonville 97th globally for cities with a population of 4 million or less, a bump from its 119th position on the index last year.
The firm weighs the strength of a city’s economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance to compile the ranking.
The report puts Jacksonville 134th overall out of the 1,000 cities ranked in the study. The Northeast Florida city was in the top five to watch in North America with Boise, Idaho; Durham, North Carolina; San Antonio, Texas; and Edmonton in Alberta, Canada.
Oxford Economics findings say 26% of the growth in Jacksonville’s gross domestic product in 2025 can be attributed to the technology sector. It specifically cited the presence of Financial Technology firms like Fidelity National Information Services, Nymbus and Black Knight, as well as large presence from traditional banks like Bank of America, TIAA, Wells Fargo, BBVA and Truist.
The city’s total GDP is $148 billion, according to Oxford Economics, or $83,200 per person. That’s based on the regional population of 1.8 million, while Jacksonville proper/Duval County is about 1.1 million people.
The Oxford index forecasts a 1% population growth rate per year through 2030, nearly four times the U.S. rate.
It highlights the city’s high income per person, smaller rainfall anomalies and large GDP size as strengths. Weaknesses include Jacksonville’s higher crime rate, higher housing expenditures and older age profile.
“Jacksonville is a standout city — even by fast-growing Florida standards,” the report states. “Its broad-based growth in recent years has earned it an upgrade in the Global City Index rankings for this year. While much of its growth has been fueled by in-migration and population gains, it is increasingly being recognized on a global scale for its burgeoning finance, tech, fintech, and professional business services sectors.”
Howland credited Florida and Jacksonville’s low taxes, relative to Northeastern, Midwestern and Florida peer cities. He also says the city is more “recession proof” with a large share of its jobs in the military, logistics, medical and manufacturing sectors.
“We are a low-tax environment. Families and businesses can keep more of the hard-earned money that they make than nearly everywhere else in America,” Howland said. “It’s our quality of life. Our climate, our beach, our rivers — you heard it said — our waterways, our growing culinary scene, our improving Downtown and riverfront, and our improving NFL team. We’re investing in all the right places.”
Deegan has been critical of the state Legislature’s push to persuade voters to approve a constitutional amendment to drastically scale back residential property taxes. She said the ranking should be a call for more public-private partnerships and more public and private sector investments in the city’s quality of life to maintain momentum.
“It calls for us to attract new people while making sure that the families who built this city can afford to remain here and share in its success,” Deegan said.
Economic headwinds and Amendment 3
Many of the data points for the ranking were taken from Jacksonville’s 2025 economic numbers. Today, there are some signs that job growth in Northeast Florida could be slowing.
The state’s Department of Commerce reported last month that Northeast Florida’s rate of job growth slowed in July, and the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.8% in June to 4.9%. The Jacksonville metropolitan area saw 2,900 nonfarm jobs added from July 2025 to July 2026, a 0.4% growth rate.
There’s also worry about less property tax revenue for public sector spending by the city if Amendment 3 passes in November. The Jacksonville City Council auditor estimates the Florida property tax cut would mean $300 million less per year for the city by 2027.
Whittle said when he came to Jacksonville seven years ago, he saw the city’s “world-class ingredients.” The Civic Council CEO says the organization, a panel of 100 of the region’s business executives, will meet to consider a position on the tax referendum soon.
He declined to comment directly Tuesday about the tax cut before his board meets.
“A lot of people have spoken out against the amendment — the police and fire unions and a number of sheriffs. I won’t repeat what they’ve said,” Whittle said. “But I would hate for us to do anything that took the wind out of the sails of what you’re seeing here today,” Whittle said.
Davis touted job creation at Cecil Airport and Spaceport and the growing commerce center that surrounds it, as integral to making Oxford Economics’ forecast for Jacksonville a reality.
Howland has also made attracting more aerospace businesses to Cecil to join companies like Boeing and Otto Aerospace a priority of his council presidency.
“We will be a top 50 city, mark my words,” Davis said. “It only happens when all get behind what the mayor’s doing. When we all get behind the leadership of growing jobs at Cecil with City Council President Howland. With the vision of the Civic Council in understanding what our DNA is, and creating a momentum with that DNA of what we can be as a community.”
