Silicon Valley may be home to huge tech companies like Google and Facebook, but the San Francisco metro area isn’t the most innovative city in the world, according to annual rankings compiled by data firm 2thinknow.
Instead, the top spot belongs to Tokyo, Japan, according to the 2018 Innovation Cities Index. This is the first time that an Asian city has claimed the title as world’s most innovative city since 2thinknow first started compiling the annual rankings in 2007.
Of the top 50, the city with the biggest jump in the rankings was Austin, Texas, which moved up 18 spots from 2017 to claim No. 29. Meanwhile, Barcelona dropped to No. 30 in the index, a 17-spot decrease from last year.
Cities are assessed based on 31 segments of their industries and economy, and 162 indicators of innovation. However, the firm’s data analysts compile each city’s index score, out of 60, from three key factors: cultural assets, human infrastructure, and networked markets.
Here is the current ranking of the 50 most innovative cities in the world:
50. Orlando, Florida
Change from 2017 ranking: +11
Companies that call this city home: AAA, FreeCast, Immune Therapeutics, Solodev
49. Dublin, Ireland
Change from 2017 ranking: no change
Companies that call this city home: Accenture, Storyful, Zalando, Udemy
48. Moscow, Russia
Change from 2017 ranking: -5
Companies that call this city home: Yandex, Gazprom, Sistema, Mobile TeleSystems
47. Rome, Italy
Change from 2017 ranking: +4
Companies that call this city home: Telespazio, Leonardo, Enel, e-Geos
46. Helsinki, Finland
Change from 2017 ranking: no change
Companies that call this city home: Nokia, Rovio Entertainment, Supercell, Smartly.io
45. Osaka, Japan
Change from 2017 ranking: +5
Companies that call this city home: Panasonic, Capcom, Sharp Electronics, Sakura Internet
44. Tel Aviv, Israel
Change from 2017 ranking: -7
Companies that call this city home: Fiverr, Gett, Mindspace, Cortica
43. Oakland, California
Change from 2017 ranking: +12
Companies that call this city home: Pandora, VSCO, Ask.com, Kaiser Permanente
42. Hamburg, Germany
Change from 2017 ranking: -2
Companies that call this city home: Bauer Media Group, Jimdo, mytaxi, Wunder Mobility
41. Portland, Oregon
Change from 2017 ranking: +7
Companies that call this city home: AWS Elemental, Tektronix, InFocus, Nike
40. Milan, Italy
Change from 2017 ranking: -11
Companies that call this city home: UniCredit, Prysmian, 505 Games, Pirelli
39. Copenhagen, Denmark
Change from 2017 ranking: -6
Companies that call this city home: Adform, Sitecore, Momondo, SYBO Games
38. Madrid, Spain
Change from 2017 ranking: -15
Companies that call this city home: Telefonica, OnTruck, Cabify, fintonic
37. Beijing, China
Change from 2017 ranking: -7
Companies that call this city home: Baidu, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Weibo
36. Oslo, Norway
Change from 2017 ranking: +3
Companies that call this city home: Telenor, Opera Software, Kahoot!, Schibsted Media
35. Shanghai, China
Change from 2017 ranking: -3
Companies that call this city home: Webi English, YI Technology, Motion Global, Clobotics
34. Manchester, United Kingdom
Change from 2017 ranking: +11
Companies that call this city home: AccessPay, LADbible, AO World, Boohoo
33. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Change from 2017 ranking: -5
Companies that call this city home: Emirates Airline, Careem, Souq.com, Blink Studios
32. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Change from 2017 ranking: +2
Companies that call this city home: Comcast, Aramark, Lincoln National Corp., Crown Holdings
31. Denver, Colorado
Change from 2017 ranking: +11
Companies that call this city home: Ibotta, MapQuest, FareHarbor, Catalyst Repository Systems
30. Barcelona, Spain
Change from 2017 ranking: -17
Companies that call this city home: Privalia, Wallapop, Typeform, TravelPerk
29. Austin, Texas
Change from 2017 ranking: +18
Companies that call this city home: Dell, Indeed, National Instruments, HomeAway
28. Stockholm, Sweden
Change from 2017 ranking: +3
Companies that call this city home: Spotify, Ericsson, King (Candy Crush), NorthStar Group
27. Hong Kong, China
Change from 2017 ranking: +8
Companies that call this city home: Yoswit, Klook, GoGoVan, WeLab
26. Miami, Florida
Change from 2017 ranking: no change
Companies that call this city home: Magic Leap, WhereBy.Us, Lennar, CareCloud
25. Vancouver, Canada
Change from 2017 ranking: -1
Companies that call this city home: Hootsuite, PlentyOfFish, Cognitive3D, BroadbandTV
24. Washington, DC
Change from 2017 ranking: +3
Companies that call this city home: Lockheed Martin, Appian, HelloWallet, Rosetta Stone
23. San Diego, California
Change from 2017 ranking: +13
Companies that call this city home: Qualcomm, Brain Corp, Classy, Illumina
22. Montreal, Canada
Change from 2017 ranking: -3
Companies that call this city home: Element AI, Air Canada, Hopper, Transit
21. Munich, Germany
Change from 2017 ranking: -6
Companies that call this city home: Siemens, BMW, Tado, Allianz
20. Atlanta, Georgia
Change from 2017 ranking: -2
Companies that call this city home: Aptos, UPS, Bluefin, Cricket Wireless
19. Vienna, Austria
Change from 2017 ranking: -9
Companies that call this city home: TourRadar, Kompany, Tricentis, Robo Wunderkind
18. Amsterdam, Netherlands
Change from 2017 ranking: -6
Companies that call this city home: Booking.com, Philips, TomTom, BTC.com
17. Houston, Texas
Change from 2017 ranking: +5
Companies that call this city home: Citgo, cPanel, FlightAware, Sysco
16. Melbourne, Australia
Change from 2017 ranking: +9
Companies that call this city home: Redbubble, Telstra, Catapult Sports, CSL Limited
15. Seattle, Washington
Change from 2017 ranking: +6
Companies that call this city home: Amazon, Zillow, Qualtrics, Rover
14. Berlin, Germany
Change from 2017 ranking: +3
Companies that call this city home: SoundCloud, HelloFresh, Babbel, Zalando
13. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
Change from 2017 ranking: +3
Companies that call this city home: AT&T, American Airlines, Texas Instruments, Energy Transfer Equity
12. Seoul, South Korea
Change from 2017 ranking: -1
Companies that call this city home: Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG Electronics, SK Holdings
11. Chicago, Illinois
Change from 2017 ranking: +9
Companies that call this city home: Grubhub, Boeing, Groupon, Motorola Mobility
10. Sydney, Australia
Change from 2017 ranking: +4
Companies that call this city home: Canva, Atlassian, Zip Money, Nuix
9. Paris, France
Change from 2017 ranking: no change
Companies that call this city home: Orange Communications, Deezer, Thales Group, DailyMotion
8. Toronto, Canada
Change from 2017 ranking: no change
Companies that call this city home: Wealthsimple, InterAxon, Wattpad, The Stars Group
7. Boston, Massachusetts
Change from 2017 ranking: -2
Companies that call this city home: General Electric, HubSpot, Bain Capital, Boston Dynamics
6. Singapore, Singapore
Change from 2017 ranking: +1
Companies that call this city home: DBS Bank, Singtel, CapitaLand Limited, Flex
5. Los Angeles, California
Change from 2017 ranking: +1
Companies that call this city home: Snap Inc., SpaceX, Riot Games, Hulu
4. New York, New York
Change from 2017 ranking: -2
Companies that call this city home: WeWork, Verizon, IBM Watson, Citigroup
3. Silicon Valley (San Francisco-San Jose), California
Change from 2017 ranking: +1
Companies that call this city home: Apple, Google (Alphabet), Facebook, HP, Intel, Netflix, Tesla
2. London, United Kingdom
Change from 2017 ranking: -1
Companies that call this city home: Barclays, TransferWise, BP, ASOS.com, Monzo
1. Tokyo, Japan
Change from 2017 ranking: +2
Companies that call this city home: SoftBank, Hitachi, Toshiba, Sony Corporation, Mitsubishi
In a news release announcing the 2018 rankings, 2thinknow's director Christopher Hire credited Tokyo's "support of new technologies" in raising the city to the top of the 2018 rankings.
"They showed clear direction by embracing smart technology change to lead innovation, and leadership in what we have identified as the twin long-term globe shaking trends of robotics and 3D manufacturing," Hire said.
