The 2018 ranking of the best places to find a job in the United States has been released by WalletHub. This year’s list includes rankings for 182 cities across the country (including the 150 most populated U.S. cities and at least two of the most populated cities in each state) with rankings in categories like the job opportunities, employment growth, monthly average starting salary, unemployment rate, median annual income, average work and commute time, and housing affordability.
WalletHub evaluated 26 metrics related to job markets and socio-economics to create its 2018 list. Keep in mind, the results are based on data related to each city only – not surrounding cities or areas.
Overall Best Places to Find a Job in 2018
Based on all 26 metrics, WalletHub gave each city a score, which was used to create the overall ranking of the best place to find a job in the U.S. in 2018 as well as in its rankings of cities in the more specific categories mentioned earlier in this article. Overall, here are the 10 best cities to find a job in 2018:
- Chandler, AZ
- Scottsdale, AZ
- San Francisco, CA
- Peoria, AZ
- Gilbert, AZ
- Plano, TX
- Portland, ME
- Irvine, CA
- Madison, WI
- Boston, MA
Overall, the best city based only on the “job market” ranking score is Peoria, AZ, and the best city based only on the “socio-economic” ranking score is Madison, WI.
Overall Worst Places to Find a Job in 2018
The worst city to find a job in 2018 based on this ranking is Shreveport, LA. Here are the 10 worst cities to find a job based on the WalletHub ranking:
- Shreveport, LA
- Detroit, MI
- Newark, NJ
- Columbus, GA
- Birmingham, AL
- New Orleans, LA
- Hialeah, FL
- Fresno, CA
- Montgomery, AL
- Mobile, AL
Cities with the Most and Fewest Job Opportunties in 2018
If you’re looking for a city with the most job opportunities, then Salt Lake City, UT is the place to go. It ranked at the top of the list of cities with the most job opportunities followed by Charleston, SC; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, SC; and Portland, ME.
On the flip side, the fewest job opportunities are in Bridgeport, CT followed by Stockton, CA; Bakersfield, CA; Detroit, MA; and Fresno, CA.
Cities with the Highest and Lowest Starting Salaries
If the highest monthly average starting salary is important to you, then San Jose, CA ranks the highest followed by San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Washington, DC; Oakland, CA; and Fremont, CA.
Cities with the lowest monthly average starting salary are Gulfport, MS; Springfield, MO; Las Cruces, NM; Laredo, TX; and Brownsville, TX.
Bottom-line
Between the best city and worst city in this ranking, there is a three-times difference in two key areas: average monthly starting salary and median annual income. There is a five-times difference in the unemployment rate between the best city and worst city.
That means these rankings are significant when it comes to comparing cities. For example, the total score for the top city overall to find a job in 2018 is 67.66 (Chandler, AZ) while the total score for the lowest ranking city is 37.49. In other words, the highest rank city’s score is nearly double (44.59% higher) than the lowest rank city’s score.
How does your city rank on the list of the best cities to find a job in 2018? Are you surprised by the ranking? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
You can see more data from the rankings in the infographic from WalletHub below.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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