For many cities and towns throughout the United States, the vision of economic success has long resembled places like Silicon Valley. This vision consisted of high-wage jobs, often in high-technology industries, available to as many workers as possible, neglecting to include low-wage and middle-wage jobs. But over the last decade, it has become clear that the Silicon Valley model of economic development does not work for most places. Perhaps it’s not even working for Silicon Valley, where wage inequality has soared and affordability issues abound. In a recent poll, 47% of residents there said they were likely to move out in the next five years.

But there is an alternative. Far from Silicon Valley, Grand Island, Neb., population 53,000, represents a different path to economic development—one where the middle of the labor market and middle-wage jobs are stronger and economic mobility is higher. At first glance, Grand Island might seem like an ordinary small Midwestern city. It has a diversified economy comprised of manufacturers across sectors and a regional hospital system. The average single-family home goes for well below the national median price.

For decades, places like Grand Island have been associated with the economic struggles of the Rust Belt: declining populations, declining employment opportunities, and a declining middle class. But this region is different. The middle class in Grand Island has grown since 1980, as has its manufacturing economy. As wages stalled for U.S. workers without a four-year degree—which is to say, most workers in our economy—between 1980 and 2019, wages for non-college workers in Grand Island grew approximately as fast as wages grew for those with a college degree: by more than 36%. And upward mobility in the Grand Island region has been well above the national average.

With so much attention still centered on the dramatic growth of innovation economies in places like Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas, it’s easy to miss signs of economic progress in places like Grand Island. But there are many regions similar to it across the United States. Our research has identified more than 100 places where the middle of the job market is strong and upward mobility is high. These places are much smaller than the average city, and are concentrated in the Midwest in states from Minnesota to South Dakota down to Nebraska and Texas.

Read the full article about middle-wage jobs by Ben Armstrong and Elisabeth Reynolds at Brookings.