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I would place Salt Lake City in the top 5. It's political, economic and religious clout is most certainly regional, but it's a huge region. Included would be the entire state of Utah, southern ID, southwestern WY, eastern NV, parts of northern AZ. I believe the Salt Lake media market is still the only one in the continental US to include an entire state (UT).
SLC and Providence.
In regards to the OP, I agree with others that Boston, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Denver seem like the obvious top 4. Minneapolis to round out the top 5, especially if you count metro areas.
I think of several others as 'big fish in a small pond' types (SLC, OKC, Indianapolis, etc.) that are dominant in their state, but don't have the national/international presence. Although, they're growing fast.
Prominance is dictated by how much pull you have at the federal level- gdp, congressmen, etc.
Phx, twin cities, atlanta, denver and boston metros would be my top 10%.
Sac is on denvers tail but a step down in terms of population and gdp. but next in line. Being the capital of the most populace state is huge.
Austin is a cool town, but has no pull nationally or even on a statewide, or regional level. San antone is almost just as influential as austitude.
Austin definitely has some pull in its region. Most of its domestic migration growth comes from people leaving the two largest metro areas in the state to move there (Houston and DFW).
In regards to the OP, I agree with others that Boston, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Denver seem like the obvious top 4. Minneapolis to round out the top 5, especially if you count metro areas.
I think of several others as 'big fish in a small pond' types (SLC, OKC, Indianapolis, etc.) that are dominant in their state, but don't have the national/international presence. Although, they're growing fast.
Minneapolis isn't a capital. St. Paul is, which is "overshadowed" by Minneapolis, which is why most people aren't mentioning St. Paul.
Minneapolis isn't a capital. St. Paul is, which is "overshadowed" by Minneapolis, which is why most people aren't mentioning St. Paul.
My bad!
I got thinking about the Twin Cities being up there if we are counting metros, and then just spaced out. Well, I was wondering why it hadn't been mentioned more, and there we go. I think St. Paul is up there still, but probably not in the top 5.
I pulled up the state capitals quiz in Jetpunk and the average score is 29 with 62% correctly guessing Springfield, Illinois. That's not the most scientific way to explore my hunch, but it's the most readily available data. It's not as bad as I thought it would be either.
PS: If you're not familiar with jetpunk, check it out, but proceed with caution. It is very addicting.
I think it's a valuable data point but not the whole story. Obviously state capitals with a goofy name might be easier to remember even if they're smaller. Tallahassee and Honolulu for instance. And capitals like Albany and Springfield are very easy to remember because of how important other cities in their states are in a national sense, and how silly it can seem that those cities aren't the state capital.
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My bad!
