As the U.S. economy heads toward normalcy — the latestevidence being the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interestrates — we got to wondering which cities can most boast abouttheir economies.

The Santa Monica, Calif.-based MilkenInstitute has drilled down using a host of metrics to find themetro areas whose economic engines are firing on all cylinders.Milken divided cities into large and small, growth in jobs andwages and the robustness of high-tech industries as key benchmarksin its formula. The growth scores index job and pay growth againstthe national average, which gets a score of 100.

The Milken reports notes that job and wage growth contributesmightily to a community’s health and that the housing marketnationally has bounced back from its nadir after the bubbleburst.

Related: These are the 12 top U.S. metro areas forhigh-net-worth prospects

Metro areas involved in designing high-tech hardware andsoftware and social media apps had a leg up on other cities, theMilken report said.

In this year’s rankings, Southern states lead the way, takingsix spots in the top 25. The Midwestern states only managed to landtwo metro areas among them.

Check out the top 10 large cities for economic growth in2015:

10. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande,Calif.

2014 rank: 24th.

5-year job growth: 105.60 (ranked18^th).

1-year job growth: 101.77(ranked17^th).

5-year pay growth: 100.51 (ranked66^th).

1-year pay growth: 101.53 (ranked33^rd).

Overall index: 763.

Takeaway: The metro area, with a population ofabout 280,000, saw job growth that was 2% higher than the nationalaverage.

9. Greeley, Colo.

2014 rank: 9th.

5-year job growth: 117.29 (1^st).

1-year job growth: 106.74 (1^st).

5-year pay growth: 111.27 (5^th).

1-year pay growth: 105.92 (1^st).

Overall index: 758.

Takeaway: With about 277,000 residents, Greeleybenefited from the oil extraction in nearby Nebraska, which pushedwages up.

8. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro,Oregon-Washington

2014 rank: 16th.

5-year job growth: 103.35(41^st).

1-year job growth: 101.03(38^th).

5-year pay growth: 103.10(37^th).

1-year pay growth: 101.35(40^th).

Overall index: 688.

Takeaway: Buoyed by gains in its tech sector,the area of 2.3 million people saw solid job and wage gains.

7. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.

2014 rank: 11th.

5-year job growth: 103.58(37^th).

1-year job growth: 101.09(37^th).

5-year pay growth: 107.52(14^th).

1-year pay growth: 102.02(23^rd).

Overall index: 622.

Takeaway: At 2.8 million residents, the Seattlearea was another Northwest metro area helped by a robust techindustry. After falling to 14^th, the area climbed backinto the Top 10.

6. Raleigh, N.C.

2014 rank: 5th.

5-year job growth: 105.61(17^th).

1-year job growth: 1101.61(22^nd).

5-year pay growth: 107.82(13^th).

1-year pay growth: 102.11(11^th).

Overall index: 617.

Takeaway: The 1.2 million residents of theregion benefit from innovation and the high-tech diversity of itsbusiness base.

5. Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas

2014 rank: 9th.

5-year job growth: 106.18(11^th).

1-year job growth: 102.06(14^th).

5-year pay growth: 103.97(30^th).

1-year pay growth: 101.85(25^th).

Overall index: 566.

Takeaway: Diversification allowed the area of4.6 million to weather the fall in oil prices, which a generationago would have been devastating to the local economy.

4. Austin-Round Rock, Texas

2014 rank: 2nd.

5-year job growth: 112.33 (2^nd).

1-year job growth: 102.18(12^th).

5-year pay growth: 112.55 (3^rd).

1-year pay growth: 101.85(25^th).

Overall index: 294.

Takeaway: The Texas city of nearly 2 million isanother that, like Dallas, weathered the plunging oil market aswell as the high dollar working to restrict imports ofelectronics.

3. Provo-Orem, Utah

2014 rank: 3rd.

5-year job growth: 112.09 (3^rd).

1-year job growth: 102.20(11^th).

5-year pay growth: 109.16(10^th).

1-year pay growth: 103.79 (5^th).

Overall index: 195.

Takeaway: Low taxes and costs helped drive thebest job growth of any large metro area for this area of570,000.

2. San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco,Calif.

2014 rank: 2.

5-year job growth: 110.29 (5^th).

1-year job growth: 110.64 (6^th).

5-year pay growth: 121.72 (1^st).

1-year pay growth: 103.08 (7^th).

Overall index: 108.

Takeaway: Young knowledge workers from aroundthe nation and world put this area of 1.6 million just a tick awayfrom 1^st in the closest finish ever in the rankings.

1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.

2014 rank: 4.

5-year job growth: 109.25 (7^th).

1-year job growth: 102.58 (7^th).

5-year pay growth: 116.54 (2^nd).

1-year pay growth: 104.09 (1^st).

Overall index: 100.

Takeaway: The area of 2 million reclaimed firstplace among large metro areas after two years out of the topspot.

Related: Meet the 25 top billionaires in theworld