Boston Tops Chamber's 'Talent Index'

New rankings from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce list Boston as the top metropolitan area for its talent poll and resulting innovation.

The chamber's Global Talent Index, a ranking system of 30 metros worldwide, is based on three data points: university academic performance, the number of college degree-holders and the number of patents.

The chamber ranked Boston second in the academic performance metric (behind London), fifth in the college degree metric and fourth in the patent metric.

"We are pleased that the results reinforce Greater Boston’s leadership in this area, driven in large part by our world-class institutions of higher education," said chamber President Paul Guzzi in the release. "Yet we must do more to retain talent, encourage investment in leading-edge research, and strengthen our position as a source of patents and intellectual property."

Following Boston in the rankings are, in order: London, Beijing, San Francisco and Paris.