The Port City docks at 67 on this year’s Forbes' list of Best Places for Business and Careers. The annuallist ranks 200 cities according to factors such as employment, housing, education and quality of life. Wilmington falls between Long Island, NY (66) and Peabody, Mass.(68).

Telecommunications and Education were listed as Wilmington's major industries, which is no surprise, considering that University of North Carolina Wilmington and its sister colleges Cape Fear Community College, Shaw University and Mount Olive College bring in the textbook crowd. The list also notes Wilmington's capitalizing on its historic roots in its thriving downtown.

Some key numbers that have seen positive change were job growth and home prices. The list states that job growth in the Wilmington area has gone up by 0.5 percent, while home prices have dropped by 1 percent. Despite that drop, however, the area’s housing affordability ranks near the bottom of the list at 195.

Three North Carolina cities rank in the top 20: Raleigh (3), Durham (10), and Charlotte (19).

While the Port City's overall ranking isn't too shabby, its category rankings show wide variations. For example, In Forbes' Job Growth and Education lists, Wilmington ranks 154th and 94th, respectively, while it came in at 15th for Cost of Doing Business.