Prime locations in 381 US Cities

(c) Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt, Thilo. N. H. Albers, Kristian Behrens

Version 1.0, 2025-01, developed for our n our Prime Locations research paper (forthcoming in American Economic Review: Insights)

• Light-shaded pixels represent undevelopable areas.

• Dark-shaded pixels are developable areas, with darker shades indicating more employment.

• Red pixels identify prime locations, ranked by total employment within the city.

• The five-digit number is the official CBSA identifier

Gird sizes are data driven and depend on the density of economic activit. In cases where this grid would exclude significant employment concentrations, especially in MSAs with multiple cities (e.g., Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington), we expand the grid to encompass all cities mentioned in the MSA name, which can result in very large grids