The 10 US Cities with the Best Job Growth Right Now
Some cities are experiencing economic recovery faster than others. To find out which areas are producing the most job growth after the recession, CareerBuilder teamed up with the Economic Modeling Specialists (EMSI) to see where the top markets are located.
“There is a close correlation between the top locations for job growth and the concentration of fast-growing industries in those markets,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder, in the study released Wednesday.
“Technology hiring is a big contributor for growth in the Bay Area and Raleigh and while Texas cities, Oklahoma and Salt Lake are benefiting from strong oil and gas activity. The rebound in manufacturing helped to land Detroit in the top ten while healthcare continues to thrive in Phoenix.”
The study looked at jobs created in the most most populous metros from 2010 to 2012.
1. San Jose, Calif.
Jobs added from 2010 through 2012: 63,290 (up 7 percent)
George Avalos at The Oakland Tribune reported that the tech industry is what drives job creation in the South Bay area, and according to The Wallstreet Journal, San Jose's employment growth is projected to be higher than the entire state of California.
San Jose is known as "the capital of Silicon Valley" and has a large concentration of tech-related jobs in high-technology engineering, computer, and microprocessor companies.
2. Houston, Texas
Jobs added from 2010 through 2012: 165,969 (up 6 percent)
SER-Jobs for Progress reported that Houston is "likely to lead in term of job creation because of its diverse economy and growing sectors such as energy with oil and gas, transportation with increasing air traffic and the port of Houston with booming export activity, and health care. After 2011, the job growth in the Houston Metro area is likely to rise 2 to 2.5 percent annually."
3. Austin, Texas
Jobs added from 2010 through 2012: 49,131 (up 6 percent)
Austin has experienced "high private-sector employment gains for 84 of the past 100 months, earning it the ranking of a top market in the United States for long-term growth," according to PRWeb.
The city is expanding its tech sector and "having the University of Texas there is a tremendous asset," Bernard Weinstein, an economist at Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business, told Kirk Ladendorf at Statesman.com.
4. Detroit, Mich.
Jobs added from 2010 through 2012: 92,407 (up 5 percent)
According to a report published by think tank Brookings Institution, Detroit tops the nation — coming second only to Charleston, SC — as the area that's added the most manufacturing jobs in the country from January 2010 through 2011.
5. Salt Lake City, Utah
Jobs added from 2010 through 2012: 34,137 (up 5 percent)
According to report released by CBRE Global Research and Consulting, Salt Lake City is one of the cities to watch in terms of future office market potential for the high-tech industry, which includes jobs in software development, data processing and Internet publishing, as well as in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Joel Kotkin at Forbes reported that the city has experienced a 7.6 percent growth in the past two years because of its "lower taxes, more flexible regulatory environment, a well-educated, multilingual workforce and spectacular nearby natural amenities."
Major tech companies in Salt Lake City include Adobe, Electronic Arts and Twitter.
6. Oklahoma City, Okla.
Jobs added from 2010 through 2012: 28,992 (up 5 percent)
Kiplinger reported that Oklahoma City's natural gas boom is what's contributing to the area's high job growth, which is home to large gas businesses such as Devon Energy and Chesapeake Energy.
In the next five years, job growth in the area is projected to increase between 10 and 12 percent.
7. Raleigh, N.C.
Jobs added from 2010 through 2012: 24,725 (up 5 percent)
The capital city in the state will "continue to be a magnet for high-tech and biotech job creation," according to a report issued by Kiplinger, a publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice.
The report said that the major companies expected to expand its workforces are Duke University, the University of North Carolina, IBM, Cisco, GlaxoSmithKline, Nortel, Verizon and Lenovo.
In the next five years, job growth in this area is projected to increase by 14 percent.
8. Dallas, Texas
Jobs added from 2010 through 2012: 128,644 (up 4 percent)
Joel Kotkin and Michael Shires at Forbes wrote that Texas has added around 200,000 "generally high-paying oil and gas jobs over the past decade."
The state also experienced the highest net migration — 868,292 people — from 2001 to 2010, which was nearly as much the net migration in the entire country — 978,614 people — according to a study recently published by Northwood University.
“Texas is a very, very business-friendly state,” said Timothy G. Nash, study director and vice president for strategic and corporate alliances at Northwood University in Michigan. If you combine pro-business regulations, no state income tax and an overall low cost of doing business, “you get the economic engine that is Texas."
9. San Francisco, Calif.
Jobs added from 2010 through 2012: 84,014 (up 4 percent)
Since the beginning of 2012, tech jobs in San Francisco have grown by a third, according to new data released by San Francisco County Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting.
Colleen Taylor at TechCrunch wrote:
"It’s not an accident that San Francisco is seeing this boom. Politicians in the city, led by Mayor Ed Lee, have been actively courting techies to set up shop in the urban center, rather than in the suburbs that have historically made up 'Silicon Valley.' "
10. Phoenix, Ariz.
Jobs added from 2010 through 2012: 81,606 (up 4 percent)
Before the recession, Arizona was the second fastest growing state for jobs, but it ended up cutting 300,000 positions during the financial crisis.
Since then, the state has re-emerged — "major companies like Go Daddy, Intel and Blue Global are using the nation's high-tech momentum to generate quality, high paying Arizona jobs," wrote Adam Kress at The Phoenix Business Journal.
Furthermore, Phoenix has always been the nation's largest producer of copper and as technology advances, the mining industry is producing more high-wage jobs, said Joe Hart at The Arizona Republic.
The city continues to have a booming health care market.
Source: CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists (EMSI)
More from Business Insider:
