10 Best Cities to Get a Job

iDean

These cities have low unemployment rates and a lot of available positions--from US NEWS
           
       osted: January 31, 2011
The latest unemployment figures show an encouraging dip in the national unemployment rate, to 9.4 percent, the lowest level in 19 months. Of course, 9.4 percent is still a dismal figure; before the current recession, unemployment remained mostly between 4 and 6 percent. Job-seekers discouraged by the slow downward creep of the unemployment rate may see more immediate relief by seeking employment in a new city. A U.S. News analysis of statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and job aggregator site Juju.com shows that the best cities right now for the unemployed to seek greener pastures are Washington, D.C.; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Boston, Massachusetts.

Two factors were considered in compiling these rankings: number of individuals per advertised job and overall unemployment rate. Juju.com, a Web site that aggregates millions of job postings from around the Internet, calculates on a monthly basis the number of unemployed individuals per advertised job in 50 of the largest metropolitan areas of the United States. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also releases monthly unemployment figures for select U.S. cities as well. Below are the cities that ranked most favorably on both scales.
1. Washington, D.C. (6.0% unemployment, 1.29 people per job posting)
With well over 200,000 employees in the D.C. metro area, the federal government is the largest employer in the nation’s capital. But a diverse plethora of other job opportunities abound in the city’s many nonprofit organizations, government contractors, consulting firms, think tanks, and educational institutions. With its 6 percent unemployment rate--more than three percentage points below the national figure--it has the lowest unemployment of all cities on this list.

2. Salt Lake City (7.1%, 2.57)
Healthcare provider Intermountain Health Care is the largest private employer in this city of over 180,000, with more than 26,000 full-time employees. But the public sector also employs a significant number of area workers, with major employers including the University of Utah, the state of Utah, and Salt Lake City International Airport.

3. Boston (7.4%, 2.32)
Business is booming in the greater Boston area, whose Fortune 500 companies include insurance company Liberty Mutual and the headquarters of office supply store Staples. But like many cities, healthcare and education are major job sources, with tens of thousands employed by hospitals and higher education institutions located around the metro area. According to the Boston Chamber of Commerce, the city’s total number of jobs increased 0.8 percent from November 2009 to November 2010.

4. Oklahoma City (6.2%, 2.91)
Government--be it federal, state, or local--is far and away the largest jobs provider in Oklahoma City, with 38,000 people employed by the state of Oklahoma, an additional 8,706 employed by the U.S. Postal Service, and 4,320 working for the city itself, according to the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. Telecommunications companies also do major business in the Oklahoma capital: AT&T, cellular provider Dobson Communications, and cable, Internet, and telephone company Cox Communications are three of the city’s top 20 employers.

5. St. Paul, MN (6.5%, 2.81)
Over 28,000 people--13 percent of the labor force--work in the government sector in this state capital, and around 11 percent are in the healthcare industry. Twelve percent of the city’s employees are employed in manufacturing--one major employer in this industry is 3M, which has both its headquarters and some production facilities in the metro area. Job-seekers might also find opportunities across the Mississippi River, in Minneapolis; altogether, the Twin Cities metro region is home to 18 Fortune 500 companies, according to the Minneapolis Regional Chamber Development Foundation. 6. Austin (7.1%, 2.64)
Though the state of Texas is the top employer in this state capital, Austin’s healthy job market is also boosted by its many tech jobs. Dell Computers is headquartered in the Texas capital, and IBM and Apple also each employ thousands of area workers. Healthcare and educational institutions--the University of Texas at Austin, in particular--are also major employers in the city.

7. Baltimore (7.8%, 2.08)
Health and education dominate the employment landscape in Maryland’s largest city. According to the Baltimore Development Corporation, Johns Hopkins University is the largest Baltimore employer, with 22,700 University employees and an additional 15,753 workers at the university's hospital and health system’s various locations. The University of Maryland and its medical system are likewise significant job sources, with nearly 18,000 employees together.

8. Milwaukee (7.5%, 2.61)
Healthcare is the top industry in Wisconsin's largest city. The Milwaukee area boasts five companies in the healthcare industry that employ more than 3,000 people each, plus the Medical College of Wisconsin, which employs 4,500. The Milwaukee area is also home to the headquarters of the Kohl’s department store chain, which employs 6,300 locally, and of motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, which employs 3,600.

9. New York (8.5%, 1.81)
Despite its 8.5 percent unemployment rate--the highest on this list, along with Hartford, Connecticut--the city that never sleeps has a remarkably low 1.81 individuals per advertised job, according to juju.com. According to the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the largest industry in the city is health and social assistance, with 582,000 employees. The city that is home to Wall Street also employs 312,000 in the finance and insurance industry. And 247,000 workers in the food and accommodations industry serve the city’s estimated nearly 50 million annual tourists.

10. Hartford, CT (8.5%, 2.09)
Though Hartford ties New York City for the highest unemployment rate on this list, 8.5 percent, its 2.09 individuals per advertised job make it an ideal place to seek employment. United Technologies, an aerospace and technology corporation headquartered in Hartford, is one of the city’s top employers, along with investment company Hartford Financial Services Group and the Aetna health insurance company.
Juju Vice President Brendan Cruickshank says that cities with healthy job markets in healthcare, education, and technology--like Boston, with its dozens of hospitals and healthcare facilities, and Austin, home to Dell Computers--generally have more favorable job markets than cities hit hard by the housing collapse and heavy manufacturing, like Miami, Las Vegas, and Detroit.In addition, many of these cities are the seats of government--the list includes seven state capitals, as well as the nation's capital--and in many of these cities, the government is a primary employer.
While there are commonalities between many of the cities on our list, many also have their own unique major employers. For example, the Social Security Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Woodlawn, employ nearly 15,000 people in the area, according to the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development. And the Hartford Financial Services Group has become a top employer in Hartford, Connecticut, since it originated there 200 years ago.
Of course, there are many smaller cities with excellent job markets. Though they are not included in the Juju.com rankings, many cities in the Upper Midwest also have favorable unemployment rates. Indeed, the nine U.S. cities with the lowest unemployment rates are in the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska, with rates at 4.6 percent or lower. Yet these smaller cities may also have comparatively fewer job opportunities. The unemployed-to-jobs ratios in these cities, as estimated by U.S. News, are all greater than 3.0--higher than all of the above-listed top 10 cities.

iDean

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