CORVALLIS, Oregon
Population: 55,298
Unemployment: 4.8 percent
Leading Industries: Bio-science, Education
When major employers include the likes of the National Clonal Germplasm Repository and Hewlett-Packard, which developed the laptop computer at its local campus, it figures you’re drawing from a smart workforce. Corvallis was ranked No. 1 by Forbes for education—more than half of its residents have a bachelor’s and a quarter have an advanced degree. That talent pool—much of it from Oregon State University—is one reason startups thrive here, being created at about twice the national average.