A quarterly report released Wednesday by Brookings Institute's Metropolitan Policy Program listed the top 20 strongest performing metropolitan areas. Most of these cities experienced an increase in manufacturing jobs and only modest declines in home prices.

"While most large metropolitan areas saw growth in output and jobs in the second quarter, it's far too early to open the champagne. The good news isn't all that good," Howard Wial, a Brookings fellow, said in a statement. "We are nowhere near where we were prior to this recession."

The 20 strongest performing metro areas were:

1. Albany, N.Y.
2. Augusta, Ga.
3. Austin, Texas
4. Baton Rouge, La.
5. Buffalo, N.Y.
6. Dallas
7. Des Moines, Iowa
8. El Paso, Texas
9. Honolulu
10. Houston
11. Jackson, Miss.
12. Kansas City, Mo.
13. Little Rock, Ark.
14. Madison, Wis.
15. McAllen, Texas
16. Oklahoma City, Okla.
17. Omaha, Neb.
18. Rochester, N.Y.
19. San Antonio, Texas
20. Washington, D.C.

Source: CNNMoney.com, Annalyn Censky (09/15/2010)