Photo courtesy of the Greater Des Moines Convention & Visitors Bureau

Photo credit: Greater Des Moines Convention & Visitors Bureau

Iowa’s capital city has once again topped Forbes magazine’s list of Best Places For Business and Careers.

Greater Des Moines Partnership CEO Jay Byers says Des Moines topped the same list back in 2010. “There are a number of reasons why Greater Des Moines continues to get these top rankings. It’s our competitive cost of doing business, our great quality of life, and it’s our existing industries,” Byers says. “All of those working together make Greater Des Moines a great place for business and careers.”

Forbes 15th annual list of Best Places For Business and Careers was released Wednesday. The article cites Des Moines as being “the only place that ranks among the top quartile in at least nine of the 12 metrics” that Forbes graded the cities on.

Byers says Forbes also noted energy costs in Des Moines are 22-percent below the national average — and that’s helped the area land recent multimillion dollar data center projects by Facebook and Microsoft.

The article also highlights Des Moines’ “strong foothold in finance and insurance.” Wells Fargo recently announced a $100 million expansion in the area. Principal Financial is putting $250 million into an expansion of its headquarters in downtown Des Moines.

Forbes states businesses costs in the Des Moines metro are 17-percent below the national average and 36-percent of the area’s population has a college degree.

In 2011, Forbes listed Des Moines as being the top spot in the country for young professionals. “These rankings are very important for us, in that we share this information with site selectors from across the country and across the world in our efforts to attract not only companies, but talent from across the world to relocate and expand and to be successful in central Iowa” Byers says.

Following Des Moines on this year’s list of Best Places For Business and Careers are Provo, Utah and Raleigh, North Carolina. Lincoln, Nebraska is fourth on the list. Omaha is ranked 17th.