Oxford Economics released its annual Global Cities Index, ranking the world's 1,000 largest cities in five categories including, economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance.
And Jacksonville made the cut, also sneaking onto the company's new cities to watch list, joining the likes of Lima, Peru; Cairo, Egypt; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
It is in the top 5 for North American cities to watch along with Durham, North Carolina; Boise, Idaho; and San Antonio, Texas.
"New for this year is our Cities to Watch section highlighting the top places in each region we think are generating significant steam and likely to climb our rankings in the coming years," the website states about the list. "These places are emblematic of the range of opportunities across the globe and make clear that national analysis can only take you so far – so much going on below the surface, with cities and regions regularly outperforming their national economy, and offering substantial growth opportunities for investors. These cities are emblematic of that diversity."
The index ranked the city #134 overall and #70 in the economics category. It is also ranked #97 in a separate index ranking cities with populations of four million or fewer.
The economics ranking considers gross domestic product size and growth, economic stability and diversity and employment growth.
The rankings significantly dipped in the quality of life category, though, with Jacksonville ranking #364. Though that is still in the top half of the cities surveyed.
The weaknesses that contributed to the dip are linked back to higher crime rates compared to other top cities, higher housing expenditures and an aging demographic.
The quality of life category is made up of measures including income equality, housing expenditure, income per person, life expectancy, crime rate, and recreational or cultural sites.
The city also scored at #164 in human capital and #198 for both environment and governance.
