With costs of living skyrocketing in recent years and the demand for different skill sets changing, job seekers must be resourceful to find opportunities that best suit them. This could mean relocating for higher income, an improved work-life balance, growth potential or benefits.
Keeping this in mind, SmartAsset evaluated job markets in the largest U.S. cities to determine the best places overall for income and potential growth, affordability, remote work, commute time, employment rates and health insurance benefits.
Key Findings
- Santa Clara, CA ranks as the best job market. Santa Clara claims the top spot thanks to a 53.4% increase in workers’ wages over three years. The average income for individual workers is $100,182 – higher than any other city. Otherwise, the unemployment rate is about average studywide at 4.8%. Monthly payment for housing here averages $2,851, putting housing costs at 34.1% of income, which is more affordable than the studywide median of 40.2%.
- Unemployment is lowest in these cities. Fishers, IN, ranking fourth overall, had the lowest unemployment rate at 0.8%. Manchester, NH (1.2%), Lee’s Summit, MO (1.4%), Cary, NC (1.6%), and Nampa, ID (1.6%) also ranked for the lowest unemployment rates out of 344 cities.
- Job markets in these three cities rank at the bottom. Waterbury, CT is 344th out of all 344 job markets. Income growth did not keep up with inflation, unemployment was over 8%, and the median earnings for workers was just over $32,000. The job market in Paterson, NJ ranked 343rd for similar reasons, despite a 12.8% income growth over three years. Santa Maria, CA ranked 342nd.
- Up to 40% of the workforce is remote in these cities. Third place Cary, NC has the relatively largest remote workforce at 40.0%. Frisco, TX, ranking 10th overall, has 38.2% working from home. Bellevue ranks second overall and third for the remote-work metric with 36.6%.
Top 20 Job Markets
- Santa Clara, California
- Unemployment rate: 4.8%
- Median earnings for workers: $100,182
- Mean monthly housing costs: $2,851
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 34.1%
- Income growth over three years: 53.4%
- Average commute time in minutes: 20.9
- Percent working remotely: 26.6%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 88.6%
- Bellevue, Washington
- Unemployment rate: 3.3%
- Median earnings for workers: $92,319
- Mean monthly housing costs: $2,491
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 32.4%
- Income growth over three years: 33.0%
- Average commute time in minutes: 23.1
- Percent working remotely: 36.6%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 86.4%
- Cary, North Carolina
- Unemployment rate: 1.6%
- Median earnings for workers: $62,929
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,642
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 31.3%
- Income growth over three years: 15.5%
- Average commute time in minutes: 22.2
- Percent working remotely: 40.0%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 86.8%
- Fishers, Indiana
- Unemployment rate: 0.8%
- Median earnings for workers: $67,734
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,568
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 27.8%
- Income growth over three years: 18.6%
- Average commute time in minutes: 27.3
- Percent working remotely: 21.8%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 88.7%
- Arlington, Virginia
- Unemployment rate: 2.0%
- Median earnings for workers: $87,002
- Mean monthly housing costs: $2,276
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 31.4%
- Income growth over three years: 19.1%
- Average commute time in minutes: 26.6
- Percent working remotely: 35.3%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 86.5%
- Goodyear, Arizona
- Unemployment rate: 2.8%
- Median earnings for workers: $53,033
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,697
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 38.4%
- Income growth over three years: 47.7%
- Average commute time in minutes: 26.7
- Percent working remotely: 24.1%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 79.6%
- Seattle, Washington
- Unemployment rate: 3.3%
- Median earnings for workers: $73,461
- Mean monthly housing costs: $2,087
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 34.1%
- Income growth over three years: 25.2%
- Average commute time in minutes: 25.8
- Percent working remotely: 34.1%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 86.0%
- Rochester, Minnesota
- Unemployment rate: 4.3%
- Median earnings for workers: $53,327
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,175
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 26.4%
- Income growth over three years: 26.5%
- Average commute time in minutes: 15.1
- Percent working remotely: 13.8%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 85.6%
- Carlsbad, California
- Unemployment rate: 3.5%
- Median earnings for workers: $81,755
- Mean monthly housing costs: $2,875
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 42.2%
- Income growth over three years: 44.3%
- Average commute time in minutes: 31.7
- Percent working remotely: 32.7%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 83.9%
- Frisco, Texas
- Unemployment rate: 2.4%
- Median earnings for workers: $72,421
- Mean monthly housing costs: $2,326
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 38.5%
- Income growth over three years: 19.9%
- Average commute time in minutes: 27.6
- Percent working remotely: 38.2%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 86.4%
- Westminster, Colorado
- Unemployment rate: 2.3%
- Median earnings for workers: $58,522
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,735
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 35.6%
- Income growth over three years: 33.6%
- Average commute time in minutes: 25.9
- Percent working remotely: 23.0%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 80.3%
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Unemployment rate: 2.1%
- Median earnings for workers: $76,225
- Mean monthly housing costs: $2,109
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 33.2%
- Income growth over three years: 21.8%
- Average commute time in minutes: 28.7
- Percent working remotely: 31.0%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 82.0%
- Sandy Springs, Georgia
- Unemployment rate: 3.6%
- Median earnings for workers: $68,241
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,778
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 31.3%
- Income growth over three years: 29.3%
- Average commute time in minutes: 27
- Percent working remotely: 30.3%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 79.7%
- Bend, Oregon
- Unemployment rate: 2.8%
- Median earnings for workers: $47,837
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,742
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 43.7%
- Income growth over three years: 35.7%
- Average commute time in minutes: 16.8
- Percent working remotely: 23.5%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 79.1%
- Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Unemployment rate: 3.6%
- Median earnings for workers: $41,909
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,170
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 33.5%
- Income growth over three years: 39.7%
- Average commute time in minutes: 19.4
- Percent working remotely: 12.5%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 79.2%
- Fremont, California
- Unemployment rate: 3.5%
- Median earnings for workers: $91,772
- Mean monthly housing costs: $2,816
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 36.8%
- Income growth over three years: 21.5%
- Average commute time in minutes: 27.1
- Percent working remotely: 33.1%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 86.4%
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Unemployment rate: 2.6%
- Median earnings for workers: $61,500
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,766
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 34.5%
- Income growth over three years: 16.5%
- Average commute time in minutes: 22.5
- Percent working remotely: 32.5%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 81.7%
- Hillsboro, Oregon
- Unemployment rate: 2.8%
- Median earnings for workers: $54,040
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,768
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 39.3%
- Income growth over three years: 28.5%
- Average commute time in minutes: 22.4
- Percent working remotely: 24.1%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 82.9%
- Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Unemployment rate: 2.7%
- Median earnings for workers: $40,956
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,085
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 31.8%
- Income growth over three years: 33.4%
- Average commute time in minutes: 19.8
- Percent working remotely: 15.3%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 76.9%
- Austin, Texas
- Unemployment rate: 3.0%
- Median earnings for workers: $53,729
- Mean monthly housing costs: $1,688
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 37.7%
- Income growth over three years: 26.7%
- Average commute time in minutes: 22.4
- Percent working remotely: 29.2%
- Percent of employed with health insurance through work: 80.6%
Data and Methodology
344 cities with 100,000 or greater population for which data was available were considered. All data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2022. Six main categories evaluating different aspects of a city’s job market were considered, with commute time and remote work each receiving a half-weighting:
- Unemployment rate: Average for the year 2021.
- Median income to housing payment ratio: Median housing payments for 2021 were compared to the median income of the same year to gauge the relative quality of local incomes.
- Commute time: For workers not working from home, this measures the median minutes spent in transit to work.
- Remote work: The percent of workers working remotely.
- Healthcare: The percent of employed people who have private health insurance, i.e. health insurance through their employer.
- Income growth: This is the two-year growth in median income between 2019 and 2022.
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