How to use the U.S. Southeast Site Selector

The Site Selector offers an objective ranking of 331 U.S. cities based on criteria important to logistics professionals.

This customized listing looks at the top 50 cites and metropolitan areas located in the U.S. Southeast, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The Site Selector is based on material developed by Expansion Management and Logistics Today.

The Site Selector matrix provides an overall ranking of each city within the Southeast region, as well as an indication of the city's national ranking. Other ranking categories include:

Transportation and distribution (T&D) industry is based on businesses and employment base providing transportation, distribution, warehousing and related services.

Work force/labor is geared to existing and available logistics-related workers in the area. Road infrastructure measures factors like available lane miles per capita, interstate highway access, miles of paved roads, etc.

Road density, congestion and safety ranks the city on traffic volumes and delays as well as accident statistics and other factors affecting the smooth flow of traffic.

Road condition draws on state performance and includes condition of highways and bridges, among other measures.

Interstate highway includes access to interstate highways, spending on highway construction and maintenance, etc.

Taxes and fees provides a measure of logistics-related costs, including highway and fuel taxes, inventory taxes (where present), etc.

Railroad offers a state-based rank of access to Class 1 and other rail services, miles of track, etc.

Waterborne commerce includes ocean port capacity as well as inland waterways.

Air cargo ranks the city on its access to cargo services, including widebody passenger service by combination carriers, international and expedited services.

2005 Regional Rank	2005 National Rank	Metropolitan Area	T&D Industry Rank	Work Force/ Labor Rank	Road Infrastructure Rank	Road Density, Congestion and Safety Rank	Road Condition Rank	Interstate Highway Rank	Taxes & Fees Rank	Railroad Rank	Waterborne Commerce Rank	Air Cargo Rank	2004 National Rank	2003 National Rank	2002 National Rank
1	12	Atlanta, Ga.	4	26	259	308	6	16	2	32	165	8	3	3	12
2	15	New Orleans, La.	39	24	264	211	238	32	42	61	1	42	24	52	97
3	17	Savannah, Ga.	90	10	259	154	6	54	2	76	31	108	1	1	1
4	21	Jacksonville, Fla.	23	67	56	238	11	54	248	129	35	48	31	2	6
5	22	Miami, Fla.	1	6	56	328	11	32	248	207	42	5	41	19	18
6	26	Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, Va.	56	156	325	227	56	18	80	92	18	39	29	51	37
7	27	Nashville, Tenn.	41	155	203	176	119	54	63	102	50	43	2	10	3
8	28	Mobile, Ala.	86	33	214	236	196	54	31	32	15	112	27	11	17
9	33	Richmond-Petersburg, Va.	43	37	143	86	146	18	86	254	62	49	36	38	14
10	38	Memphis, Tenn.	37	259	226	304	151	54	94	39	36	16	19	41	43
11	40	Birmingham, Ala.	53	109	214	201	196	32	31	32	165	56	21	13	20
12	45	Fort Lauderdale, Fla.	55	97	56	318	11	54	248	207	30	21	106	69	24
13	50	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.	35	94	56	331	11	18	248	304	13	20	61	27	25
14	56	Chattanooga, Tenn.	107	292	241	139	48	54	27	75	58	113	8	5	4
15	59	Charleston-North Charleston, S.C	85	50	319	185	139	100	13	140	27	84	18	8	78
16	59	Little Rock-North Little Rock, Ark.	74	106	210	52	209	18	227	56	165	74	72	130	176
17	61	Washington, D.C.	29	254	148	277	174	4	103	111	165	4	90	111	91
18	75	Charlotte-Gastonia, N.C.-Rock Hill, S.C.	34	233	330	269	64	54	76	95	165	25	126	158	207
19	77	Knoxville, Tenn	77	107	203	292	119	32	63	102	165	98	23	36	27
20	80	Baton Rouge, La.	82	58	264	301	238	54	42	166	10	107	44	78	181
21	89	Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.	104	30	172	168	133	54	78	173	165	139	63	74	38
22	100	Orlando, Fla.	50	148	56	311	11	161	248	207	165	14	120	43	40
23	102	Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, S.C.	65	223	319	264	139	18	13	184	165	75	59	24	131
24	107	Pensacola, Fla.	170	84	56	319	11	100	248	207	70	101	82	89	120
25	112	Macon, Ga.	195	120	259	84	6	54	2	171	165	199	9	20	33
26	116	Fort Smith, Ark.	102	13	250	80	247	100	146	43	165	266	156	173	190
27	117	Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula, Miss.	162	16	290	289	160	100	104	159	20	176	83	126	145
28	119	Shreveport-Bossier City, La.	128	189	264	44	238	54	42	202	165	120	52	107	169
29	121	Jackson, Miss.	89	92	290	156	160	54	104	267	165	86	47	90	129
30	122	Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.	83	21	56	124	11	161	248	271	165	156	87	44	39
31	127	Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, N.C.	45	175	306	95	215	100	214	217	165	57	132	213	221
32	130	Columbia, S.C.	116	272	319	88	139	32	13	284	165	80	50	17	96
33	141	West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.	111	233	56	316	11	161	248	324	52	50	114	87	65
34	144	Lake Charles, La.	234	303	264	26	238	100	42	166	14	196	70	100	172
35	146	Tuscaloosa, Ala.	207	165	214	295	196	54	31	45	165	237	134	98	136
36	153	Augusta, Ga.-Aiken, S.C.	155	218	284	224	54	100	11	194	165	164	65	37	79
37	155	Lafayette, La.	105	40	264	278	238	100	42	202	165	186	103	186	255
38	161	Huntsville, Ala.	205	173	214	307	196	100	31	179	165	99	128	97	124
39	162	Columbus, Ga.	197	46	228	174	160	161	28	178	165	192	69	55	57
40	172	Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.	78	225	306	281	215	54	214	280	165	40	176	245	244
41	173	Monroe, La.	196	24	264	274	238	161	42	125	165	173	161	251	291
42	178	Montgomery, Ala.	175	305	214	256	196	100	31	179	165	136	133	92	108
43	182	Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.	193	266	56	322	11	100	248	271	165	79	214	169	101
44	184	Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, N.C.	106	48	306	208	215	161	214	181	165	156	237	285	292
45	186	Roanoke, Va.	179	324	143	233	146	100	86	254	165	105	164	210	139
46	194	Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, Fla.	187	310	56	317	11	161	248	304	53	126	240	224	105
47	196	Daytona Beach, Fla.	215	121	56	327	11	100	248	271	165	170	193	181	128
48	200	Lynchburg, Va.	163	23	143	43	146	273	86	254	165	237	197	197	137
49	201	Wilmington, N.C.	166	78	306	308	215	161	214	217	46	163	233	280	281
50	204	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark.	99	280	210	83	209	273	227	189	165	95	206	267	273

Source: Based on material developed by

Expansion Management and

Logistics Today

How to use the U.S. Southeast Site Selector

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