STUDY: Jobs and Salaries Growing on the Peninsula

San Francisco and San Mateo County are the 36th best-performing metropolitan area in the country, a new study has found. 

According to the Milken Institute, the local economy, health and entrepreneurship place the region in similar company with Denver, Colorado, which was ranked 30th. 

The annual study shows significant improvement in and around the peninsula, which was ranked 52nd in 2011.

Local one-year job growth is the area's strongest attribute, ranked 42nd in the country. Salary growth since 2005 is also above average. 

Play with the interactive database here to see other cities. 

The Milken Institute says their economists and policy experts "focus on three major imperatives: creating jobs; improving health; and ensuring that capital is available to launch entrepreneurs, new technologies and great ideas." 

What should be done to improve the area's position on the list? 

One region south, Silicon Valley was named the top metro area in the whole country, skyrocketing from 51st in 2011. The Milken Institute says the reason is that "tech is back." The Silicon Valley had only been at the top one other time in history — in 2001, during the first tech bubble.