Stick a pin into a map of the world and if it hits Jacksonville, it's on one of five North American "cities to watch" that Oxford Economics spotlighted this week in a report ranking 1,000 cities around
the globe.
Oxford Economics selected Jacksonville in its 2026 Global Cities Index report
along with Boise in Idaho, Durham in North Carolina, San Antonio in Texas and Edmonton in Canada as "emerging stars of the global economy."Elected and civic leaders celebrated Jacksonville getting the shout-out, but a softening economy will pose a challenge to their goal of moving up the rankings and cracking the top 50 in the world by 2032.
"It's not about turning our city into New York or even Austin or Nashville," Jacksonville Civic Council CEO Dennis Whittle said at a City Hall event. "It's about becoming the best possible version of ourselves, and ultimately, this isn't just a ranking. It's something that Jacksonville families should be able to feel in their schools and in careers and their neighborhoods."
The report released Sept. 15 pegs Jacksonville 134th among 1,000 cities globally. The city's goal is to break into the top 50 cities with fewer than 4 million residents by 2032. Jacksonville ranked 97th among cities of that size in this year's report, up from 119th last year.
Mayor Donna Deegan said the report "affirms what we're feeling on the ground and what we've been saying all along — Jacksonville has momentum."
The top city worldwide was New York City followed by London, Paris, Seattle and San Francisco. In Florida, Miami came in at No. 52, Orlando at 81, Tampa at 92 and Jacksonville at 134.
Oxford Economics highest ranking for Jacksonville was in the area of economics where it was 70th out of 1,000 cities and the worst score was in quality of life at 364th compared to other cities.
The city ranked 164th for human capital, 198th for environment and 198th for governance.
The Jacksonville Civic Council, comprised of business and civic leaders, got the ball rolling on the use of Oxford Economics as part of the Civic Council's Jax365 initiative.
Climbing the rankings over the next six years to become a top 50 city for those with less than 4 million people will face some obstacles as economic growth is slowing locally and Jacksonville has a long way to go in Oxford's assessment of the city's quality of life.
The unemployment rate in Duval County has been steadily rising from 3.5% in July 2023 to 5% this July, according to figures compiled by the state. The Duval County workforce grew from 526,124 in July 2023 to 529,132 in July 2025 and then slipped to 518,840 this July. The figures are snapshots of the economy.
Duval County's population still is growing but not at the pace from earlier in the decade. The U.S. Census estimates that 1,062,963 people called Duval County home in July of 2025, an increase of 8,231 people or just under 1 percent from 2024.
Oxford Economics report shows Jacksonville gaining "despite headwinds"
Whittle said Oxford Economics selected Jacksonville as a city to watch because it's been able to make progress while facing broader economic challenges from forces outside the city.
"People are coming here despite those headwinds nationally," he said. "So I'm confident we can continue to make progress without denying that some of those forces — some of those headwinds — are going to be faced."
Deegan said Jacksonville should keep diversifying its economy and developing its downtown, which she said has "reached its ignition point." She said the city must focus on health care and housing as part of a strategy that achieves economic growth and improved quality of life.
"It calls for business investments and workforce development and it calls for us to attract new people while making sure that the families who built this city can afford to remain here and shape its success," she said.
City Council President Nick Howland said Jacksonville is attractive because it's a low-tax environment where residents and businesses "can keep more of their hard-earned money," its roads and infrastructure are in better shape than most other places, the city is making the right investments for quality of life and it's focused on job creation.
He said that includes tapping into the "fantastic job opportunity" at Cecil Airport and Spaceport on the Westside.
"With the Navy, with the focus on defense and medical, Jacksonville is far more recession-proof than our peers," Howland said. "We are a blue-collar, stable economy in a high-flying, high-growth state and that is a great place to be."
Whittle said Oxford's data and Civic Council focus group show three areas deserve focus in the coming year: creating a "world-class countywide park system" available to all ZIP codes, ensuring every child has access to high-quality childhood education and building a talented workforce of residents of all ages.
JAX Chamber President Daniel Davis said Jacksonville can gain standing as a world-class city if "we all get behind what the mayor's doing," support Howland's leadership on Cecil Airport and build on the Civic Council's vision for what the city can be.
"We can compete on that playing field and I'm super excited about that," Davis said. "We will be a top 50 city, mark my words. That's going to happen."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: How Jacksonville stacks up in report on 1,000 global cities
