What makes a top performing city brand? Nashville and Honolulu tie for first in Ipsos’ newly launched ranking of mid-tier US cities.

There are a number of different Indexes and Rankings designed to aid cities and countries in benchmarking their performance across different areas – unpacking which ones are most relevant to your own strategy can be a challenge, which is why we created the ultimate guide to explain the methodologies of different place rankings and how they are intended to be used.

There are several indexes and rankings available and made to assist cities and countries in benchmarking their performance and identify ‘where they stack up’ in comparison to like-minded or aspirational places. The problem with existing diagnostic toolkits? They can be dominated by the bigger and more established players, making it harder for smaller places to measure their own performance. To combat this, Ipsos has developed the Anholt-Ipsos Mid-Tier US City Brand Index. By applying the rigorous methodology and framework of the larger global City Brands Index to smaller, but recognizable US cities, the newly launched Mid-Tier US City Brands Index examines fifty smaller cities across the USA, looking at domestic awareness and perceptions across six dimensions: Presence; Place; People; Prerequisites; Pulse; and Potential.


Discover CNP Connect

Sign up for this fortnightly newsletter to get the latest insights and inspiration straight to your inbox.

By submitting my information, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.


The Place Brand Portfolio is City Nation Place's searchable portfolio of Awards case studies from the past five years.


share