Finance

San Francisco is still the best city in the world for innovation — here are the 6 cities that threaten to usurp its position of power

According to AT Kearney, San Francisco is the world’s premiere hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. The Bay Area is home to a number of high-growth companies, including Apple, Facebook, Google, Uber, and Salesforce, and the region filed more patents per person (34,324 international patents between 2011 and 2015, with Google accounting for 6.5% of all applications) than any other city ranked by AT Kearney.

Venture capital is the lifeblood of business in San Francisco. Between 35% and 40% of all venture funding in the US flows into the Bay Area every year, according to a 2012 study by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and Booz & Company. As a result, entrepreneurs build companies there, bringing highly-educated professionals to the area in droves.

But a concentration of wealth and power has worsened a dire housing market in the Bay Area, and not everyone can afford to stay. A shortage of housing coupled with high demand, especially from tech workers who can afford to bid up prices, has made it impossible for some to buy a home in the Bay Area on a middle-class paycheck.

The median price of a home in San Francisco is $1.5 million, and a person needs an annual income of at least $303,000 to afford the 20% down payment on a home that expensive.

San Francisco may be the best known city for innovation, but it’s not the only urban area inspiring and financing entrepreneurs. For the full list of innovative cities and an explanation of the ranking’s methodology, head over to AT Kearney’s report.

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