Greater Cincinnati improved its position in the Milken Institute's annual ranking of best-performing U.S. cities - from 131st to 130th.

The survey of 200 cities and metro areas factors in job growth, wage growth and an element that the Santa Monica, Calif.-based institute calls "high-tech quotient." The top three cities in this year's survey are Fayetteville, Ark.; Las Vegas; and Fort Myers, Fla.

"Growing cities with diverse, stable economies - not the booming high-tech 'new economies' of the 1990s - are the big winners in this year's Milken Institute Best Performing Cities Index," the institute said.

Tech cities are hurting. San Jose, Calif. - the No. 2 performer in 2001 - fell from 61 last year to 147 in 2003. San Francisco dropped from 54 to 134, while Boston fell from 45 to 136 and Boulder, Colo., fell from 13 to 92. New York slipped from 152 to 175.

No Ohio cities made the top 100. Columbus boasted the state's best showing, despite falling from the 66 spot to 105. Hamilton-Middletown was second at 119, down from 94. Canton-Massillon was next at 149, down from 147. Akron came in 180th, down from 154. Dayton fell from 173 to 188, Cleveland from 172 to 194. Youngstown stayed planted in the 199 spot.

James McNair