Most people think of Boston as a global center for research and teaching, especially in the biomedical sciences.  (or perhaps as a center of excellence in American professional sports…).  Say “financial center”, however, and the word “regional” comes to mind next.  Not so.  The most recent Global Financial Centres Index, published by the Z/Yen Group, ranks Boston as the #7 global financial center.  Based on surveys of financial professionals as well as a host of quantitative data, the ranking algorithm analyzes 102 factors in 5 categories of competitiveness: Business Environment, Financial Sector Development, Infrastructure, Human Capital and Reputational Factor.

Here’s their top 10 list of global financial centers:

(1) London, (2) New York, (3) Hong Kong, (4) Singapore, (5) Tokyo, (6) Zurich, (7) Boston, (8) Geneva, (9) Frankfurt, (10) Seoul.

At #7 in 2013, Boston was up 1 place from 2012, putting it ahead of cities such as Shanghai, Geneva, Frankfurt, Seoul, Dubai, San Francisco and Chicago and, well, everybody else.  Being a world financial center probably doesn’t hurt when entrepreneurs are deciding where to found and grow a new business.

Read the report. There’s a lot of interesting information there.