An economic-development magazine has named Pima County the top mid-sized county in the nation in a new top-20 list of areas for business recruitment and attraction.

The city of Tucson placed fifth among mid-sized cities, Phoenix was first among large cities and Arizona won top honors among the states in the inaugural rankings by Expansion Management magazine.

“This type of recognition in a national publication is sure to get more site selectors thinking about Tucson for future expansions and relocations,” Joe Snell, president and CEO of Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc., said in a news release.

Pima County, which comprises the Tucson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), was followed in the county rankings by Johnson County, Kan. (Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., MSA), Anne Arundel County (Baltimore-Towson, Md., MSA) and New Castle County, Del. (Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md., MSA).
Ahead of Tucson in the mid-sized city rankings were top-ranked Canton-Massillon, Ohio,, followed by Huntsville, Ala.; Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark.; and Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, Pa.

Phoenix was followed by Charlotte, N.C.; Austin, Texas; Las Vegas, Nev.; and Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla. Arizona was followed in the state rankings by New Hampshire, Delaware, South Carolina and Virginia.

The Cleveland-based magazine, which reports a circulation of 45,000, said it based the rankings on the rate at which businesses relocated to a market and opened branch offices in a market, both calculated over an eight-year period as a percent of all business establishments in the market.

For the complete rankings release, go here.