We are supposed to be moving rapidly into the “information era,” but the future, as science fiction author William Gibson suggested, is not “evenly distributed.” For most of the U.S., the boomlet in software, Internet publishing, search and other “disruptive” cyber companies has hardly been a windfall in terms of employment. As jobs in those areas have been created, employment has shriveled in old media like newspaper, magazine and book publishing (these industries lost a net 172,000 jobs from 2009 through 2014). In the 52 largest metropolitan areas that we studied, information employment declined for roughly half from 2009 through 2014. Overall, in information industries (a sprawling sector that also includes movie and TV production, radio and another big job loser, telecom) employment has shrunken 4.2% since 2009 to 2.7 million jobs, while total nonfarm employment in the U.S. grew by 5.1%.
Yet looking at the information sector give us an important picture of how these changes have shifted jobs to certain regions and away from others. Our rankings are based on employment growth in the sector over the short-, medium- and long-term, going back to 2003, and factor in momentum — whether growth is slowing or accelerating. (For a detailed description of our methodology, click here.)
By far the biggest winners in the information sweepstakes are areas that developed a strong engineering base before the rise of the Internet. This has provided the platform for the rapid growth of web-based businesses, including in fields such as entertainment, media, hospitality and transportation (like Uber). It’s not surprising then that the metro areas that have posted the strongest information job growth over the past 11 years are San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco.
The growth in these hot spots has been nothing short of spectacular: information employment rose 60.2% from 2009 through 2014 in the San Jose area to 70,900 jobs, 6.9% of total employment in the metro area, while the San Francisco area has seen a 51.3% surge over the same time span to 55,800 jobs, representing 5.4% of the total workforce there.
After the dot-com bubble burst, Silicon Valley tech employment declined consistently until 2010, since which the rebound has been dramatic. While San Francisco and areas in the northern end of Silicon Valley have not yet reached the peak employment levels seen during the bubble era, the southern end centered in San Jose and Santa Clara has easily outstripped its peaks of the early 2000s. And with information employment continuing to surge, it’s too early to say these areas have hit their “information” peak. Last year, the number of information jobs jumped 16.0% in San Jose while San Francisco experienced an 8.3% jump.
Other traditional tech centers that have thrived in the new era include No. 9 Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash., where information employment has grown a healthy 9.2% since 2009 and No. 14 Boston, where employment is up 5.1% since 2009. Compared to the Bay Area, these regions appear less at the center of the web-based media and services industries, but their overall tech economies remain very strong.
The Rise Of Sun Belt Information Hubs
Some of the most rapid growth in information, however, is taking place not in the older established tech hotbeds but in the lower-cost metropolitan areas of the Sun Belt. Five of our top 10 ranked metropolitan areas are located in the belt that stretches from the Atlantic coast to Arizona, led by No. 3 Austin-Round Rock, Texas, where information employment has risen 30.8% since 2009 to 25,800 positions.
Some of this reflects a gradual movement of companies, notably from Silicon Valley, to the Texas capital. Smaller Bay Area firms such as digital advertising firm Marin Software have expanded there while Apple is expected to add 3,600 jobs there over the next few years.
Several other Sun Belt tech hubs also are high on our list. In fourth place is Raleigh, N.C., on the strength of a 13.8% jump in information employment since 2009. It’s followed in fifth place by No. 5 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C., which boasts significant sources of venture capital, and No. 8 San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas, which has seen the rise of locally based companies such as Execupay as well as large scale expansion of Bay Area firms such as Oracle that are flocking to the region.
One big advantage these economies have compared to the ultra-pricey Bay Area is lower home costs, something that matters to tech workers as they enter their 30s. But the biggest challenge for some of these up and coming areas, such as Phoenix, is the dearth of large locally headquartered companies that can help create a management talent base and some tech street cred.
The Battle Of The Bigs
One key battleground for information supremacy is in the country’s media centers. The clear winner has been No. 7 New York, which has recorded a 13.0% jump in information jobs since 2009 to 185,200 jobs – second most in the country behind the Los Angeles metro area. That came amid an 11.8% decline over the same timespan in all publishing jobs not involving the Internet (note that we don’t have the level of detail at the local level to separate out software publishing from that figure, but it’s safe to assume the bulk of the decline was in newspapers and book and magazine publishing). The 13% jump reflects strength in new media as well as motion pictures, TV and radio, more so than technology, a field in which New York remains very much an also ran, right in the middle of the pack in terms of creating STEM and tech employment. But boosters claim this is changing, pointing out that there are now 7,000 tech firms employing 100,000 people in the area.
Although New York is well behind the Bay Area in pace of growth, it is clearly outperforming its traditional media rivals in the rush towards digital media. Its growth dwarfs that of No. 29 Chicago, where information employment has ticked up 0.4% since 2009. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale metro area, still home to the largest number of information workers, has managed lackluster growth of 3.5% since 2009, including a 2.0% decline last year, which puts it 28th place on our list. For all the talk about L.A.’s emergence as a new media rival to the Bay Area, the numbers suggest this is more hope than reality. Over the past five years motion picture and television employment has not been hard-hit like traditional publishing but is only experiencing slow growth. No Facebook, Google or Apple equivalent has emerged in Southern California, although some hold out hope for L.A.-based Snapchat.
A decade or two ago there was talk about the nation’s capital challenging New York’s media dominance. But as has become evident over the past year, the Beltway’s appeal is dropping, even when it comes to producing sound-bites and punditry. The core Washington D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria metropolitan division places a mediocre 43rd, with a 3.9% decline in information employment since 2009. Other areas around the capital did poorly also, including 41st-ranked Northern Virginia and 46th-place Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville Md. which also have lost information jobs since 2009.
Surprises And Up And Comers
Generally speaking manufacturing, energy and logistics-oriented economies do not do well in terms of information jobs. As of now there’s no Rust Belt version of Facebook or Google, and most factory towns do very poorly. But there’s one outstanding exception to this rule: Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., which places 10th on our list. This area, sometimes referred to “automation alley,” is Michigan’s premier tech region. It is where software meets heavy metal, with a plethora of companies focusing on factory software and new computer-controlled systems for automobiles. It is home to engineering software firms like Altair, which has been expanding rapidly, and also where General Motors recently announced plans for a $1 billion tech center, employing 2,600 salaried workers.
If we are looking for future information hubs, one place to look would be our small and mid-sized metro area lists. Here the top ranks are dominated by college towns, including Baton Rouge, La., home to Louisiana State University, where information employment has surged 28.6% since 2009. It places third on our mid-size cities list, which also features such high-flying college towns as fourth place Provo-Orem, Utah (Brigham Young), No. 5 Durham-Chapel Hill (Duke, University of North Carolina), No. 6 Madison (University of Wisconsin), and No. 7 Ann Arbor (University of Michigan).
The information sector may not be a big job generator, but it does play a critical role in several of our most important economies, including the San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Austin metro areas. The clear shift we are seeing towards consolidation of media with tech – a la Apple, Netflix and Google — will likely underpin a movement of these coveted jobs from traditional media centers to the Bay. But given the unfriendly business atmosphere in California, and the super-high prices for houses, it also makes sense to look at secondary information centers, both in the Sun Belt and among college towns, which may attract even more of these jobs in the years ahead.
Joel Kotkin is executive editor of NewGeography.com and Roger Hobbs Distinguished Fellow in Urban Studies at Chapman University, and a member of the editorial board of the Orange County Register. He is also executive director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism. His newest book, The New Class Conflict is now available at Amazon and Telos Press. He is also author of The City: A Global History and The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
Michael Shires, Ph.D. is a professor at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy.
All Cities Information Jobs – 2015 Best Cities Rankings
Read about how we selected the 2015 Best Cities for Job Growth
We used five measures of growth to rank MSAs over the past 10 years. “Large” areas include those with a current nonfarm employment base of at least 450,000 jobs. “Midsize” areas range from 150,000 to 450,000 jobs. “Small” areas have as many as 150,000 jobs. This year’s rankings reflect the new Office of Management and Budget definitions of MSAs for all series released after March 2015. As a result, the MSA listed in this year’s rankings do not necessary correspond directly to those listed in prior years. In some instances, MSAs were consolidated with others — for example Pascagoula, MS, was combined with the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, MSA to form the new Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS, MSA. Others were separated from previously consolidated MSAs and in still other instances individual counties were shifted from one MSA to another. The bottom line is that this year’s rankings are based on good time series for the newly defined MSAs but may not be precisely comparable to those listed in prior years. The total number of MSAs included in this year’s rankings has risen from 398 to 421. This year’s rankings reflect the current size of each MSA’s employment.
| 2015 MSA Info Ranking – Overall | Area | 2015 Weighted INDEX | 2014 Nonfarm Emplymt (1000s) | 2014 Info Emplymt | Total Information Emplymt Cum Growth 2009-2014 | 2015 MSA Size Group | 2014 Info Overall Ranking |
| 1 | Janesville-Beloit, WI | 99.3 | 66.8 | 1.8 | 63.6% | S | 1 |
| 2 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 98.2 | 1,031.5 | 70.9 | 60.2% | L | 3 |
| 3 | San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA Met Div | 97.2 | 1,034.2 | 55.8 | 51.3% | L | 8 |
| 4 | Savannah, GA | 96.6 | 168.1 | 2.0 | 28.3% | M | 230 |
| 5 | Rochester, MN | 94.3 | 114.9 | 2.0 | 27.1% | S | 12 |
| 6 | Tallahassee, FL | 93.5 | 176.3 | 3.9 | 23.2% | M | 64 |
| 7 | Baton Rouge, LA | 93.5 | 399.8 | 6.0 | 28.6% | M | 21 |
| 8 | Provo-Orem, UT | 92.1 | 219.7 | 10.2 | 30.1% | M | 5 |
| 9 | Austin-Round Rock, TX | 91.9 | 924.9 | 25.8 | 30.8% | L | 6 |
| 10 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 89.6 | 294.2 | 4.2 | 17.8% | M | 29 |
| 11 | Madison, WI | 89.5 | 386.9 | 14.8 | 36.1% | M | 14 |
| 12 | Ann Arbor, MI | 89.4 | 211.3 | 5.0 | 26.1% | M | 74 |
| 13 | Logan, UT-ID | 88.8 | 58.3 | 0.9 | 28.6% | S | 4 |
| 14 | College Station-Bryan, TX | 87.5 | 106.1 | 1.4 | 27.3% | S | 17 |
| 15 | Raleigh, NC | 86.1 | 571.5 | 19.0 | 13.8% | L | 33 |
| 16 | Laredo, TX | 85.6 | 100.2 | 0.7 | 16.7% | S | 10 |
| 17 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 85.3 | 1,085.8 | 25.1 | 12.7% | L | 42 |
| 18 | Jackson, MS | 85.1 | 273.3 | 5.3 | 19.4% | M | 77 |
| 19 | Cheyenne, WY | 84.7 | 47.1 | 1.2 | 9.1% | S | 43 |
| 20 | Fond du Lac, WI | 84.6 | 48.3 | 1.0 | 11.1% | S | 13 |
| 21 | Wilmington, NC | 82.6 | 117.1 | 2.8 | 0.0% | S | 79 |
| 22 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 81.1 | 1,900.0 | 34.6 | 25.2% | L | 15 |
| 23 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 80.3 | 180.0 | 4.5 | 32.4% | M | 16 |
| 24 | Springfield, MO | 79.4 | 204.8 | 4.3 | 7.6% | M | 124 |
| 25 | New York City, NY | 79.1 | 4,165.9 | 185.2 | 13.0% | L | 18 |
| 26 | Victoria, TX | 78.9 | 45.5 | 0.5 | 0.0% | S | 107 |
| 27 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 78.7 | 960.3 | 21.8 | 17.0% | L | 27 |
| 28 | Oshkosh-Neenah, WI | 78.6 | 95.1 | 1.7 | 13.3% | S | 49 |
| 29 | Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Met Div | 78.4 | 1,575.6 | 91.8 | 9.2% | L | 32 |
| 30 | Portsmouth, NH-ME NECTA | 78.3 | 83.6 | 2.4 | 5.9% | S | 19 |
| 31 | Bloomington, IN | 78.3 | 77.0 | 1.4 | 0.0% | S | 86 |
| 32 | Bend-Redmond, OR | 77.9 | 70.3 | 1.5 | 7.1% | S | 52 |
| 33 | Flint, MI | 77.8 | 142.3 | 4.1 | 32.6% | S | 2 |
| 34 | Sheboygan, WI | 77.3 | 60.9 | 0.3 | 0.0% | S | 271 |
| 35 | Lincoln, NE | 77.1 | 185.7 | 2.6 | 13.0% | M | 48 |
| 36 | Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Met Div | 76.2 | 1,182.7 | 20.7 | 7.1% | L | 58 |
| 37 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 76.1 | 247.9 | 2.3 | 9.5% | M | 71 |
| 38 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 76.1 | 896.8 | 10.3 | 11.2% | L | 84 |
| 39 | El Paso, TX | 75.9 | 296.7 | 5.9 | 16.4% | M | 38 |
| 40 | Huntsville, AL | 75.6 | 217.9 | 2.7 | 14.1% | M | 22 |
| 41 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 75.5 | 2,551.7 | 88.3 | 12.7% | L | 40 |
| 42 | Abilene, TX | 75.5 | 69.2 | 1.2 | 9.1% | S | 9 |
| 43 | Rapid City, SD | 75.3 | 65.0 | 1.0 | 0.0% | S | 262 |
| 44 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | 75.2 | 324.3 | 5.3 | 2.6% | M | 30 |
| 45 | Lawrence-Methuen Town-Salem, MA-NH NECTA Div | 75.1 | 79.2 | 1.6 | 33.3% | S | |
| 46 | Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury Town, MA-NH NECTA Div | 74.6 | 62.8 | 0.4 | 0.0% | S | 95 |
| 47 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 74.1 | 1,090.5 | 24.1 | 5.9% | L | 37 |
| 48 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT NECTA | 74.0 | 409.4 | 11.4 | 10.0% | M | 20 |
| 49 | Clarksville, TN-KY | 73.7 | 88.2 | 1.2 | 20.7% | S | 76 |
| 50 | Columbus, IN | 73.7 | 51.8 | 0.5 | 25.0% | S | 78 |
| 51 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA | 73.4 | 111.1 | 1.4 | 16.7% | S | 11 |
| 52 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Div | 72.7 | 1,742.0 | 55.9 | 5.1% | L | 25 |
| 53 | Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Met Div | 72.6 | 796.1 | 19.0 | 15.6% | L | 39 |
| 54 | Tyler, TX | 71.8 | 100.2 | 2.3 | 11.1% | S | 24 |
| 55 | Napa, CA | 71.6 | 69.5 | 0.6 | 5.6% | S | 209 |
| 56 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 71.1 | 1,135.7 | 24.5 | 2.5% | L | 68 |
| 57 | Bay City, MI | 71.0 | 37.4 | 0.5 | 0.0% | S | 62 |
| 58 | West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL Met Div | 70.8 | 576.2 | 10.2 | 13.0% | L | 75 |
| 59 | Champaign-Urbana, IL | 70.3 | 108.7 | 2.6 | -7.2% | S | 26 |
| 60 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | 70.1 | 1,006.9 | 16.8 | 6.3% | L | 36 |
| 61 | Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 70.1 | 228.2 | 3.2 | 6.7% | M | 35 |
| 62 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 70.0 | 295.6 | 5.5 | 5.1% | M | 146 |
| 63 | Salt Lake City, UT | 69.8 | 666.2 | 18.5 | 12.6% | L | 31 |
| 64 | Winston-Salem, NC | 69.8 | 255.2 | 2.3 | 0.0% | M | 121 |
| 65 | Pocatello, ID | 69.8 | 35.2 | 0.4 | 0.0% | S | 184 |
| 66 | Green Bay, WI | 69.6 | 173.6 | 2.1 | 1.6% | M | 221 |
| 67 | Peabody-Salem-Beverly, MA NECTA Div | 67.7 | 96.2 | 1.3 | 30.0% | S | 162 |
| 68 | Port St. Lucie, FL | 67.2 | 135.3 | 1.4 | 0.0% | S | 155 |
| 69 | Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Met Div | 67.0 | 1,114.8 | 19.2 | 7.1% | L | 139 |
| 70 | Fort Collins, CO | 67.0 | 148.9 | 2.5 | -2.6% | S | 122 |
| 71 | Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN | 67.0 | 892.0 | 20.8 | 4.5% | L | 50 |
| 72 | Jackson, MI | 66.7 | 55.9 | 0.4 | 0.0% | S | 317 |
| 73 | Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ | 66.7 | 895.1 | 19.3 | -0.3% | L | 218 |
| 74 | Spartanburg, SC | 66.6 | 140.6 | 1.1 | 0.0% | S | |
| 75 | Tacoma-Lakewood, WA Met Div | 66.4 | 293.5 | 2.9 | 0.0% | M | 67 |
| 76 | Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Met Div | 66.3 | 2,346.3 | 68.8 | 2.8% | L | 65 |
| 77 | Cleveland, TN | 66.1 | 46.0 | 0.3 | 0.0% | S | 61 |
| 78 | Burlington, NC | 65.8 | 60.9 | 0.5 | 0.0% | S | 83 |
| 79 | Fargo, ND-MN | 65.4 | 140.2 | 3.3 | -5.7% | S | 81 |
| 80 | Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA | 65.2 | 235.4 | 3.1 | 8.1% | M | 66 |
| 81 | Auburn-Opelika, AL | 65.1 | 60.7 | 0.5 | 0.0% | S | 56 |
| 82 | Flagstaff, AZ | 65.1 | 64.3 | 0.4 | 0.0% | S | 57 |
| 83 | Taunton-Middleborough-Norton, MA NECTA Div | 64.8 | 58.7 | 1.3 | 0.0% | S | |
| 84 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 64.5 | 642.4 | 9.4 | 0.0% | L | 90 |
| 85 | Walla Walla, WA | 64.5 | 27.1 | 0.4 | 0.0% | S | |
| 86 | Knoxville, TN | 64.3 | 382.8 | 5.8 | 3.0% | M | 69 |
| 87 | Gainesville, FL | 64.2 | 135.2 | 1.6 | 0.0% | S | 196 |
| 88 | Lewiston, ID-WA | 64.1 | 27.4 | 0.4 | 0.0% | S | 60 |
| 89 | Fresno, CA | 63.5 | 319.2 | 3.9 | 1.7% | M | 163 |
| 90 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA | 63.4 | 571.3 | 11.4 | 0.3% | L | 92 |
| 91 | Redding, CA | 63.4 | 63.1 | 0.7 | 10.5% | S | 133 |
| 92 | Muskegon, MI | 63.3 | 63.0 | 0.8 | 0.0% | S | 73 |
| 93 | Kokomo, IN | 63.0 | 40.7 | 0.4 | 0.0% | S | 104 |
| 94 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 63.0 | 1,314.3 | 29.0 | -2.9% | L | 80 |
| 95 | Eugene, OR | 62.9 | 149.7 | 3.4 | -1.9% | S | 63 |
| 96 | Asheville, NC | 62.9 | 181.4 | 1.9 | -4.9% | M | 142 |
| 97 | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC | 62.7 | 148.3 | 2.3 | 0.0% | S | |
| 98 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI | 62.6 | 521.2 | 5.3 | 2.6% | L | 88 |
| 99 | Boise City, ID | 62.6 | 284.2 | 4.4 | -0.8% | M | 44 |
| 100 | Grants Pass, OR | 62.4 | 24.5 | 0.3 | 0.0% | S | |
| 101 | North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL | 62.3 | 276.7 | 3.4 | 0.0% | M | 161 |
| 102 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Met Div | 61.4 | 4,295.6 | 197.6 | 3.5% | L | 34 |
| 103 | Bismarck, ND | 61.4 | 74.0 | 1.0 | 3.6% | S | 205 |
| 104 | Santa Fe, NM | 61.1 | 61.8 | 0.9 | -12.9% | S | 125 |
| 105 | Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC | 61.1 | 394.4 | 7.1 | 3.4% | M | 103 |
| 106 | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | 61.0 | 354.0 | 6.2 | 6.3% | M | 93 |
| 107 | Watertown-Fort Drum, NY | 60.8 | 41.6 | 0.7 | 0.0% | S | |
| 108 | Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL Met Div | 60.7 | 3,597.7 | 71.3 | 0.4% | L | 114 |
| 109 | Prescott, AZ | 60.5 | 60.9 | 0.6 | 0.0% | S | 82 |
| 110 | Dover-Durham, NH-ME NECTA | 60.4 | 52.7 | 1.1 | 0.0% | S | |
| 111 | Anchorage, AK | 60.3 | 177.7 | 4.5 | -3.6% | M | 129 |
| 112 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | 60.2 | 138.1 | 1.2 | -42.9% | S | 261 |
| 113 | Chico, CA | 60.1 | 76.9 | 1.1 | 6.7% | S | 245 |
| 114 | Lexington-Fayette, KY | 59.5 | 268.3 | 5.8 | 7.5% | M | 195 |
| 115 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | 59.0 | 1,364.0 | 43.8 | -0.1% | L | 106 |
| 116 | Santa Rosa, CA | 58.7 | 193.7 | 2.7 | 3.8% | M | 109 |
| 117 | Las Cruces, NM | 58.7 | 71.1 | 0.9 | 8.0% | S | 54 |
| 118 | Decatur, AL | 58.6 | 53.8 | 0.3 | 0.0% | S | 110 |
| 119 | Binghamton, NY | 58.6 | 105.7 | 1.9 | -3.4% | S | 45 |
| 120 | Sioux Falls, SD | 58.4 | 146.5 | 2.7 | -10.0% | S | 101 |
| 121 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | 57.8 | 566.2 | 8.4 | 29.4% | L | 47 |
| 122 | Columbia, SC | 57.4 | 375.8 | 5.5 | -3.0% | M | 118 |
| 123 | Bangor, ME NECTA | 57.3 | 66.4 | 1.1 | 0.0% | S | 255 |
| 124 | Akron, OH | 56.9 | 332.2 | 3.9 | -5.6% | M | 108 |
| 125 | Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, MA-NH NECTA Div | 56.9 | 147.6 | 6.4 | 3.2% | S | 298 |
| 126 | Albany, OR | 56.9 | 41.1 | 0.4 | 0.0% | S | |
| 127 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | 56.6 | 37.6 | 0.2 | 0.0% | S | 227 |
| 128 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 56.0 | 1,903.7 | 39.6 | -2.1% | L | 99 |
| 129 | Fairbanks, AK | 55.8 | 37.5 | 0.5 | 0.0% | S | 214 |
| 130 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 55.8 | 239.1 | 3.1 | 6.9% | M | 97 |
| 131 | Mobile, AL | 55.6 | 174.8 | 2.0 | -11.6% | M | 135 |
| 132 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 55.5 | 2,973.6 | 32.7 | -3.2% | L | 72 |
| 133 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | 55.4 | 486.6 | 11.1 | -2.9% | M | 147 |
| 134 | Terre Haute, IN | 55.3 | 70.8 | 0.7 | 0.0% | S | 134 |
| 135 | St. George, UT | 54.8 | 54.6 | 0.7 | 0.0% | S | 115 |
| 136 | Lansing-East Lansing, MI | 53.9 | 225.6 | 2.8 | 7.7% | M | 7 |
| 137 | Yuba City, CA | 53.4 | 40.5 | 0.4 | -14.3% | S | 130 |
| 138 | Wichita Falls, TX | 53.2 | 58.5 | 1.1 | -8.3% | S | 157 |
| 139 | Middlesex-Monmouth-Ocean, NJ | 53.2 | 845.9 | 17.5 | -3.7% | L | |
| 140 | South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI | 53.0 | 137.6 | 1.8 | 0.0% | S | 137 |
| 141 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY | 52.9 | 556.7 | 7.6 | -5.4% | L | 168 |
| 142 | Elgin, IL Met Div | 52.6 | 249.9 | 3.7 | -11.9% | M | |
| 143 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | 52.6 | 242.1 | 2.9 | -23.0% | M | 201 |
| 144 | San Rafael, CA Met Div | 52.5 | 113.0 | 2.6 | 36.8% | S | |
| 145 | Texarkana, TX-AR | 52.4 | 59.1 | 0.5 | -16.7% | S | 145 |
| 146 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 52.1 | 1,224.2 | 25.7 | -2.4% | L | 149 |
| 147 | San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | 51.8 | 1,372.3 | 24.8 | -4.6% | L | 217 |
| 148 | Philadelphia City, PA | 51.6 | 684.3 | 11.5 | -7.0% | L | 169 |
| 149 | Madera, CA | 51.5 | 36.5 | 0.4 | -14.3% | S | 94 |
| 150 | Charlottesville, VA | 51.5 | 112.2 | 2.1 | 0.0% | S | |
| 151 | Lawton, OK | 51.4 | 45.4 | 0.5 | -16.7% | S | 132 |
| 152 | Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL | 51.2 | 48.4 | 0.6 | 0.0% | S | 46 |
| 153 | Pueblo, CO | 51.2 | 60.6 | 0.7 | -12.5% | S | 96 |
| 154 | Montgomery, AL | 51.1 | 170.3 | 2.2 | 1.6% | M | 117 |
| 155 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 51.1 | 1,047.8 | 13.5 | -5.4% | L | 112 |
| 156 | Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL | 51.0 | 136.2 | 1.5 | -6.3% | S | 105 |
| 157 | Boulder, CO | 51.0 | 178.3 | 8.2 | -6.5% | M | 144 |
| 158 | Columbus, OH | 50.5 | 1,028.2 | 17.0 | 1.6% | L | 28 |
| 159 | Altoona, PA | 50.4 | 61.1 | 0.8 | -7.4% | S | 113 |
| 160 | Northern Virginia, VA | 50.2 | 1,388.0 | 41.3 | -4.1% | L | 210 |
| 161 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT NECTA | 50.0 | 124.2 | 2.3 | -11.5% | S | 187 |
| 162 | Jackson, TN | 49.9 | 65.6 | 0.6 | -10.0% | S | 263 |
| 163 | Corpus Christi, TX | 49.0 | 196.6 | 2.1 | -8.7% | M | 152 |
| 164 | Greenville, NC | 49.0 | 78.4 | 0.9 | -10.0% | S | 51 |
| 165 | Corvallis, OR | 48.7 | 40.3 | 0.7 | -22.2% | S | 304 |
| 166 | La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN | 48.7 | 77.2 | 1.1 | 0.0% | S | 138 |
| 167 | Gary, IN Met Div | 48.6 | 276.5 | 2.1 | -10.1% | M | 98 |
| 168 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 48.4 | 622.5 | 6.1 | -7.1% | L | 182 |
| 169 | Visalia-Porterville, CA | 48.2 | 116.6 | 0.9 | -18.2% | S | 294 |
| 170 | Grand Forks, ND-MN | 48.1 | 58.0 | 0.6 | -10.0% | S | 150 |
| 171 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Met Div | 47.9 | 2,560.7 | 63.0 | -3.9% | L | 198 |
| 172 | Canton-Massillon, OH | 47.8 | 172.2 | 1.7 | -15.0% | M | 191 |
| 173 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO | 47.6 | 227.8 | 1.9 | -12.3% | M | 208 |
| 174 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | 47.6 | 212.1 | 2.1 | -3.1% | M | 274 |
| 175 | Saginaw, MI | 47.4 | 88.7 | 1.3 | 0.0% | S | 53 |
| 176 | Charleston, WV | 47.3 | 123.3 | 1.7 | -15.0% | S | 206 |
| 177 | Dothan, AL | 47.3 | 57.3 | 0.7 | -12.5% | S | 180 |
| 178 | Kankakee, IL | 47.3 | 45.2 | 0.5 | -17.6% | S | 154 |
| 179 | Worcester, MA-CT NECTA | 47.3 | 277.1 | 3.4 | 0.0% | M | 55 |
| 180 | Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | 47.2 | 168.8 | 1.5 | -6.3% | M | 248 |
| 181 | Framingham, MA NECTA Div | 47.1 | 171.0 | 5.3 | -5.9% | M | 188 |
| 182 | Pittsburgh, PA | 47.1 | 1,164.6 | 18.3 | -6.3% | L | 151 |
| 183 | Kansas City, KS | 47.0 | 458.8 | 15.1 | -8.3% | M | 189 |
| 184 | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 46.7 | 205.5 | 1.6 | -10.9% | M | 258 |
| 185 | Camden, NJ Met Div | 46.6 | 515.3 | 7.2 | -6.9% | L | 272 |
| 186 | Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD Met Div | 46.6 | 576.2 | 13.4 | -8.4% | L | 226 |
| 187 | Olympia-Tumwater, WA | 46.5 | 108.9 | 0.9 | -6.9% | S | |
| 188 | Utica-Rome, NY | 46.4 | 127.8 | 1.8 | -19.7% | S | 316 |
| 189 | Nashua, NH-MA NECTA Div | 46.3 | 125.4 | 1.9 | -6.7% | S | 215 |
| 190 | Rochester, NY | 46.1 | 527.8 | 8.9 | -8.9% | L | 249 |
| 191 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA | 46.1 | 568.7 | 10.1 | -9.0% | L | 216 |
| 192 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | 45.8 | 199.8 | 1.9 | -25.3% | M | 291 |
| 193 | Urban Honolulu, HI | 45.6 | 467.2 | 7.2 | -0.9% | M | 148 |
| 194 | Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA | 45.6 | 122.2 | 2.0 | -10.4% | S | 70 |
| 195 | Cedar Rapids, IA | 45.4 | 140.5 | 4.7 | -4.1% | S | 140 |
| 196 | Racine, WI | 45.3 | 76.0 | 0.4 | -7.7% | S | 181 |
| 197 | Delaware County, PA | 44.6 | 232.4 | 2.6 | -12.4% | M | |
| 198 | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC | 44.5 | 147.2 | 0.9 | 0.0% | S | 41 |
| 199 | Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV | 43.9 | 103.4 | 2.2 | -4.3% | S | 171 |
| 200 | Kennewick-Richland, WA | 43.8 | 104.6 | 0.8 | -11.1% | S | |
| 201 | Colorado Springs, CO | 43.8 | 263.9 | 6.8 | -3.3% | M | 199 |
| 202 | Johnson City, TN | 43.7 | 78.6 | 1.5 | -22.0% | S | 278 |
| 203 | Columbus, GA-AL | 43.6 | 123.2 | 1.6 | -11.3% | S | 251 |
| 204 | Greensboro-High Point, NC | 43.6 | 354.7 | 5.0 | -10.2% | M | 268 |
| 205 | Jacksonville, FL | 43.6 | 633.5 | 9.1 | -11.1% | L | 172 |
| 206 | Springfield, MA-CT NECTA | 43.3 | 324.0 | 3.7 | -7.5% | M | 59 |
| 207 | Ogden-Clearfield, UT | 43.0 | 234.7 | 2.1 | -4.5% | M | 143 |
| 208 | Odessa, TX | 42.7 | 81.7 | 0.5 | -16.7% | S | 225 |
| 209 | Wichita, KS | 42.6 | 294.5 | 4.5 | -18.2% | M | 270 |
| 210 | Eau Claire, WI | 42.3 | 85.3 | 0.9 | -10.0% | S | 213 |
| 211 | Longview, TX | 42.2 | 105.4 | 1.4 | -10.9% | S | 128 |
| 212 | Manchester, NH NECTA | 42.0 | 108.6 | 3.0 | -9.1% | S | 123 |
| 213 | Amarillo, TX | 41.9 | 117.4 | 1.4 | -12.5% | S | 204 |
| 214 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 41.7 | 104.4 | 0.8 | -17.2% | S | 247 |
| 215 | Lancaster, PA | 41.6 | 240.5 | 3.1 | -13.1% | M | 224 |
| 216 | Toledo, OH | 41.6 | 298.3 | 3.1 | -1.1% | M | 136 |
| 217 | Waterbury, CT NECTA | 41.4 | 68.4 | 0.7 | -8.7% | S | 200 |
| 218 | Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH | 41.3 | 141.5 | 1.3 | -13.3% | S | |
| 219 | Lafayette, LA | 40.7 | 221.8 | 2.9 | -9.4% | M | 229 |
| 220 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 40.7 | 845.7 | 14.4 | -11.1% | L | 186 |
| 221 | Reno, NV | 40.4 | 204.2 | 2.0 | -16.7% | M | 296 |
| 222 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | 40.4 | 457.2 | 8.3 | -10.1% | M | 197 |
| 223 | Elmira, NY | 40.0 | 39.6 | 0.4 | -20.0% | S | 183 |
| 224 | Pittsfield, MA NECTA | 39.8 | 41.4 | 0.6 | -5.6% | S | 222 |
| 225 | Reading, PA | 39.3 | 176.7 | 1.3 | -4.9% | M | 244 |
| 226 | Albuquerque, NM | 39.3 | 380.3 | 7.8 | -15.9% | M | 243 |
| 227 | Punta Gorda, FL | 39.3 | 44.6 | 0.4 | -14.3% | S | 240 |
| 228 | Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, CA Met Div | 39.3 | 1,524.2 | 23.9 | -7.3% | L | 102 |
| 229 | Yuma, AZ | 39.2 | 52.7 | 0.5 | -6.3% | S | 100 |
| 230 | Bakersfield, CA | 39.2 | 261.7 | 2.3 | -13.6% | M | 165 |
| 231 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | 38.7 | 1,038.2 | 14.5 | -9.9% | L | 170 |
| 232 | Dutchess County-Putnam County, NY Met Div | 38.7 | 142.4 | 1.9 | -14.9% | S | |
| 233 | Topeka, KS | 38.6 | 111.6 | 1.5 | -25.0% | S | 299 |
| 234 | Niles-Benton Harbor, MI | 38.6 | 60.2 | 0.5 | -11.8% | S | 279 |
| 235 | Leominster-Gardner, MA NECTA | 37.8 | 50.4 | 0.4 | -20.0% | S | 309 |
| 236 | Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead, MA NECTA Div | 37.8 | 45.2 | 1.0 | -12.1% | S | |
| 237 | Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley, CA Met Div | 37.6 | 1,081.5 | 21.3 | -13.6% | L | 241 |
| 238 | Fort Wayne, IN | 37.6 | 212.9 | 3.0 | -8.2% | M | 153 |
| 239 | Muncie, IN | 37.5 | 51.0 | 0.3 | -25.0% | S | 178 |
| 240 | Richmond, VA | 37.4 | 638.1 | 7.9 | -17.8% | L | 236 |
| 241 | Barnstable Town, MA NECTA | 37.3 | 97.6 | 1.5 | -11.8% | S | 116 |
| 242 | Portland-South Portland, ME NECTA | 37.2 | 193.8 | 3.1 | -16.2% | M | 276 |
| 243 | Trenton, NJ | 37.0 | 252.9 | 5.0 | -18.0% | M | 159 |
| 244 | Kansas City, MO | 36.8 | 571.7 | 14.5 | -13.0% | L | 232 |
| 245 | Fort Smith, AR-OK | 36.7 | 113.4 | 1.2 | 0.0% | S | 131 |
| 246 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | 36.3 | 183.0 | 2.4 | -18.2% | M | 174 |
| 247 | Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County, PA Met Div | 36.2 | 1,024.8 | 20.6 | -14.3% | L | |
| 248 | Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN | 35.9 | 102.3 | 0.9 | -10.0% | S | 23 |
| 249 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 35.8 | 95.7 | 0.8 | -14.3% | S | 267 |
| 250 | Lynchburg, VA | 35.6 | 103.7 | 0.9 | -18.2% | S | |
| 251 | Tulsa, OK | 35.5 | 445.6 | 7.5 | -11.4% | M | 239 |
| 252 | Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville, AL | 35.2 | 46.3 | 0.6 | -25.0% | S | 286 |
| 253 | Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS | 35.1 | 152.0 | 1.5 | -6.3% | M | |
| 254 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | 35.1 | 130.4 | 1.1 | -21.4% | S | 223 |
| 255 | Fayetteville, NC | 34.7 | 128.6 | 1.4 | -8.7% | S | 141 |
| 256 | St. Cloud, MN | 34.6 | 107.0 | 1.6 | -9.4% | S | 89 |
| 257 | Glens Falls, NY | 34.3 | 53.6 | 0.9 | -10.0% | S | 91 |
| 258 | Oklahoma City, OK | 34.1 | 625.8 | 8.3 | -18.6% | L | 295 |
| 259 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 33.5 | 753.9 | 11.0 | -13.9% | L | 233 |
| 260 | Syracuse, NY | 33.4 | 318.1 | 4.5 | -12.4% | M | 238 |
| 261 | Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, MA NECTA Div | 33.4 | 80.8 | 0.6 | -14.3% | S | 292 |
| 262 | Peoria, IL | 32.9 | 178.0 | 2.2 | -10.8% | M | 234 |
| 263 | Newark, NJ-PA Met Div | 32.8 | 1,188.1 | 24.2 | -13.3% | L | 231 |
| 264 | Springfield, IL | 32.8 | 111.4 | 1.7 | -19.0% | S | 297 |
| 265 | Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI | 32.5 | 72.4 | 0.6 | -25.0% | S | |
| 266 | Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI Met Div | 32.4 | 734.4 | 7.0 | -12.8% | L | 164 |
| 267 | Tucson, AZ | 31.6 | 370.8 | 4.1 | -8.9% | M | 185 |
| 268 | Calvert-Charles-Prince George’s, MD | 31.6 | 387.7 | 4.9 | -2.0% | M | 228 |
| 269 | Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA | 31.4 | 226.2 | 1.9 | -20.8% | M | 293 |
| 270 | Modesto, CA | 31.0 | 163.0 | 0.9 | -25.0% | M | 308 |
| 271 | Johnstown, PA | 30.3 | 57.8 | 0.7 | -12.5% | S | 246 |
| 272 | Casper, WY | 30.2 | 43.2 | 0.4 | -20.0% | S | 173 |
| 273 | Duluth, MN-WI | 29.6 | 134.0 | 1.4 | -20.4% | S | 175 |
| 274 | York-Hanover, PA | 29.4 | 180.1 | 1.7 | -17.7% | M | 119 |
| 275 | Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA | 28.4 | 330.1 | 4.5 | -22.0% | M | 207 |
| 276 | Salisbury, MD-DE | 28.3 | 142.3 | 1.2 | -21.7% | S | |
| 277 | Gadsden, AL | 28.3 | 37.6 | 0.3 | -40.0% | S | 120 |
| 278 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 28.1 | 1,319.1 | 11.1 | -20.7% | L | 193 |
| 279 | Dayton, OH | 28.0 | 374.5 | 8.4 | -21.5% | M | 284 |
| 280 | Decatur, IL | 27.9 | 50.8 | 0.6 | -21.7% | S | 289 |
| 281 | Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Met Div | 27.9 | 993.0 | 13.0 | -14.9% | L | 219 |
| 282 | Idaho Falls, ID | 27.3 | 60.2 | 0.9 | -30.8% | S | 256 |
| 283 | Baltimore City, MD | 26.9 | 365.1 | 3.6 | -12.1% | M | 282 |
| 284 | Roanoke, VA | 26.9 | 161.4 | 1.7 | -15.0% | M | 269 |
| 285 | Kingston, NY | 26.6 | 60.9 | 0.9 | -10.0% | S | 167 |
| 286 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | 26.6 | 347.8 | 6.7 | -14.9% | M | 242 |
| 287 | Danville, IL | 26.4 | 29.3 | 0.2 | -33.3% | S | 306 |
| 288 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | 26.2 | 184.6 | 2.6 | -21.2% | M | 273 |
| 289 | Merced, CA | 26.1 | 64.5 | 0.4 | -33.3% | S | 252 |
| 290 | Wausau, WI | 26.0 | 71.6 | 0.4 | -29.4% | S | 300 |
| 291 | Salem, OR | 25.9 | 151.5 | 1.0 | -23.1% | M | 288 |
| 292 | Lubbock, TX | 25.1 | 138.6 | 3.8 | -16.8% | S | 235 |
| 293 | Ocala, FL | 24.4 | 98.3 | 0.8 | -25.0% | S | 290 |
| 294 | El Centro, CA | 24.3 | 54.9 | 0.3 | -25.0% | S | 158 |
| 295 | Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Met Div | 24.3 | 399.2 | 3.6 | -18.2% | M | 260 |
| 296 | Orange-Rockland-Westchester, NY | 23.9 | 688.8 | 13.2 | -16.8% | L | |
| 297 | Ithaca, NY | 23.8 | 70.6 | 0.4 | -20.0% | S | 111 |
| 298 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 23.7 | 516.4 | 8.2 | -16.9% | L | 202 |
| 299 | Waco, TX | 23.5 | 112.4 | 1.2 | -16.3% | S | 192 |
| 300 | Owensboro, KY | 23.5 | 52.6 | 0.4 | -20.0% | S | 264 |
| 301 | Sherman-Denison, TX | 23.0 | 45.6 | 0.4 | -20.0% | S | 85 |
| 302 | Rockford, IL | 23.0 | 150.9 | 1.4 | -22.2% | M | 315 |
| 303 | Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY Met Div | 22.8 | 1,292.3 | 21.4 | -18.7% | L | 177 |
| 304 | Appleton, WI | 22.6 | 122.1 | 1.5 | -27.4% | S | 275 |
| 305 | Salinas, CA | 22.5 | 132.8 | 1.4 | -17.6% | S | 254 |
| 306 | Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA | 22.5 | 262.5 | 3.7 | -29.9% | M | 305 |
| 307 | Killeen-Temple, TX | 22.4 | 136.2 | 1.8 | -23.6% | S | 126 |
| 308 | Grand Junction, CO | 22.1 | 61.9 | 0.7 | -22.2% | S | 127 |
| 309 | Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ | 21.9 | 34.7 | 0.3 | -50.0% | S | |
| 310 | Evansville, IN-KY | 21.7 | 157.9 | 1.8 | -24.3% | M | 280 |
| 311 | Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL | 20.8 | 56.4 | 0.4 | -29.4% | S | 285 |
| 312 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | 20.2 | 345.7 | 6.6 | -20.9% | M | 281 |
| 313 | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL | 20.2 | 166.6 | 2.2 | -27.5% | M | 250 |
| 314 | Midland, TX | 19.7 | 98.6 | 0.9 | -25.0% | S | 311 |
| 315 | Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA | 19.5 | 902.1 | 13.6 | -24.0% | L | 259 |
| 316 | Panama City, FL | 18.6 | 78.4 | 1.1 | -31.3% | S | 287 |
| 317 | Kalamazoo-Portage, MI | 18.1 | 141.0 | 0.9 | -34.1% | S | 302 |
| 318 | Coeur d’Alene, ID | 18.1 | 58.3 | 0.6 | -29.2% | S | 160 |
| 319 | Greeley, CO | 17.7 | 101.5 | 0.7 | -28.6% | S | 277 |
| 320 | Medford, OR | 16.7 | 82.0 | 1.3 | -23.5% | S | 257 |
| 321 | Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Met Div | 16.6 | 352.1 | 4.1 | -23.3% | M | 283 |
| 322 | Shreveport-Bossier City, LA | 15.9 | 183.5 | 2.0 | -52.0% | M | 179 |
| 323 | Bloomington, IL | 15.8 | 94.4 | 0.7 | -22.2% | S | 301 |
| 324 | Elkhart-Goshen, IN | 15.3 | 124.5 | 0.5 | -21.1% | S | 176 |
| 325 | New Haven, CT NECTA | 13.3 | 282.4 | 4.0 | -32.2% | M | 314 |
| 326 | Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ | 12.5 | 56.6 | 0.5 | -42.3% | S | 203 |
| 327 | Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ | 10.7 | 46.6 | 0.6 | -30.8% | S | 312 |
| 328 | Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | 10.3 | 130.6 | 0.7 | -30.0% | S | 212 |
| 329 | Erie, PA | 10.1 | 130.6 | 1.2 | -29.4% | S | 310 |
| 330 | San Angelo, TX | 8.2 | 49.3 | 0.8 | -34.2% | S | 313 |
| 331 | Dover, DE | 7.3 | 68.0 | 0.4 | -33.3% | S | 194 |
| 332 | Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI NECTA | 7.2 | 127.5 | 1.1 | -32.7% | S | 266 |
| 333 | Lewiston-Auburn, ME NECTA | 6.6 | 50.6 | 0.5 | -34.8% | S | 303 |
| 334 | Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL | 5.1 | 103.4 | 0.9 | -32.5% | S | 307 |
| 335 | New Bedford, MA NECTA | 4.2 | 66.3 | 0.4 | -42.9% | S | 220 |
| 336 | Morristown, TN | 3.9 | 44.2 | 0.3 | -40.0% | S | 265 |
Large Cities Information Jobs – 2015 Best Cities Rankings
Read about how we selected the 2015 Best Cities for Job Growth
We used five measures of growth to rank MSAs over the past 10 years. “Large” areas include those with a current nonfarm employment base of at least 450,000 jobs. “Midsize” areas range from 150,000 to 450,000 jobs. “Small” areas have as many as 150,000 jobs. This year’s rankings reflect the new Office of Management and Budget definitions of MSAs for all series released after March 2015. As a result, the MSA listed in this year’s rankings do not necessary correspond directly to those listed in prior years. In some instances, MSAs were consolidated with others — for example Pascagoula, MS, was combined with the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, MSA to form the new Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS, MSA. Others were separated from previously consolidated MSAs and in still other instances individual counties were shifted from one MSA to another. The bottom line is that this year’s rankings are based on good time series for the newly defined MSAs but may not be precisely comparable to those listed in prior years. The total number of MSAs included in this year’s rankings has risen from 398 to 421. This year’s rankings reflect the current size of each MSA’s employment.
| 2014 MSA Info Ranking – LARGE MSAs | Area | 2015 Weighted INDEX | 2014 Nonfarm Emplymt (1000s) | 2014 Info Emplymt | Total Information Emplymt Cum Growth 2009-2014 | 2015 Change from 2014 – Large MSAs |
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 98.2 | 1,031.5 | 70.9 | 60.2% | 0 |
| 2 | San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA Met Div | 97.2 | 1,034.2 | 55.8 | 51.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Austin-Round Rock, TX | 91.9 | 924.9 | 25.8 | 30.8% | (1) |
| 4 | Raleigh, NC | 86.1 | 571.5 | 19.0 | 13.8% | 7 |
| 5 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 85.3 | 1,085.8 | 25.1 | 12.7% | 12 |
| 6 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 81.1 | 1,900.0 | 34.6 | 25.2% | (2) |
| 7 | New York City, NY | 79.1 | 4,165.9 | 185.2 | 13.0% | (2) |
| 8 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 78.7 | 960.3 | 21.8 | 17.0% | (1) |
| 9 | Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Met Div | 78.4 | 1,575.6 | 91.8 | 9.2% | 1 |
| 10 | Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Met Div | 76.2 | 1,182.7 | 20.7 | 7.1% | 10 |
| 11 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 76.1 | 896.8 | 10.3 | 11.2% | 15 |
| 12 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 75.5 | 2,551.7 | 88.3 | 12.7% | 4 |
| 13 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 74.1 | 1,090.5 | 24.1 | 5.9% | 1 |
| 14 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Div | 72.7 | 1,742.0 | 55.9 | 5.1% | (8) |
| 15 | Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Met Div | 72.6 | 796.1 | 19.0 | 15.6% | 0 |
| 16 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 71.1 | 1,135.7 | 24.5 | 2.5% | 6 |
| 17 | West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL Met Div | 70.8 | 576.2 | 10.2 | 13.0% | 7 |
| 18 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | 70.1 | 1,006.9 | 16.8 | 6.3% | (5) |
| 19 | Salt Lake City, UT | 69.8 | 666.2 | 18.5 | 12.6% | (10) |
| 20 | Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Met Div | 67.0 | 1,114.8 | 19.2 | 7.1% | 14 |
| 21 | Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN | 67.0 | 892.0 | 20.8 | 4.5% | (2) |
| 22 | Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ | 66.7 | 895.1 | 19.3 | -0.3% | 32 |
| 23 | Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Met Div | 66.3 | 2,346.3 | 68.8 | 2.8% | (2) |
| 24 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 64.5 | 642.4 | 9.4 | 0.0% | 3 |
| 25 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA | 63.4 | 571.3 | 11.4 | 0.3% | 3 |
| 26 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 63.0 | 1,314.3 | 29.0 | -2.9% | (1) |
| 27 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI | 62.6 | 521.2 | 5.3 | 2.6% | (4) |
| 28 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Met Div | 61.4 | 4,295.6 | 197.6 | 3.5% | (16) |
| 29 | Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL Met Div | 60.7 | 3,597.7 | 71.3 | 0.4% | 4 |
| 30 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | 59.0 | 1,364.0 | 43.8 | -0.1% | 1 |
| 31 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | 57.8 | 566.2 | 8.4 | 29.4% | (13) |
| 32 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 56.0 | 1,903.7 | 39.6 | -2.1% | (3) |
| 33 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 55.5 | 2,973.6 | 32.7 | -3.2% | (10) |
| 34 | Middlesex-Monmouth-Ocean, NJ | 53.2 | 845.9 | 17.5 | -3.7% | not ranked |
| 35 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY | 52.9 | 556.7 | 7.6 | -5.4% | 5 |
| 36 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 52.1 | 1,224.2 | 25.7 | -2.4% | 1 |
| 37 | San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | 51.8 | 1,372.3 | 24.8 | -4.6% | 16 |
| 38 | Philadelphia City, PA | 51.6 | 684.3 | 11.5 | -7.0% | 3 |
| 39 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 51.1 | 1,047.8 | 13.5 | -5.4% | (7) |
| 40 | Columbus, OH | 50.5 | 1,028.2 | 17.0 | 1.6% | (32) |
| 41 | Northern Virginia, VA | 50.2 | 1,388.0 | 41.3 | -4.1% | 10 |
| 42 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 48.4 | 622.5 | 6.1 | -7.1% | 3 |
| 43 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Met Div | 47.9 | 2,560.7 | 63.0 | -3.9% | 6 |
| 44 | Pittsburgh, PA | 47.1 | 1,164.6 | 18.3 | -6.3% | (6) |
| 45 | Camden, NJ Met Div | 46.6 | 515.3 | 7.2 | -6.9% | 20 |
| 46 | Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD Met Div | 46.6 | 576.2 | 13.4 | -8.4% | 10 |
| 47 | Rochester, NY | 46.1 | 527.8 | 8.9 | -8.9% | 16 |
| 48 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA | 46.1 | 568.7 | 10.1 | -9.0% | 4 |
| 49 | Jacksonville, FL | 43.6 | 633.5 | 9.1 | -11.1% | (6) |
| 50 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 40.7 | 845.7 | 14.4 | -11.1% | (4) |
| 51 | Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, CA Met Div | 39.3 | 1,524.2 | 23.9 | -7.3% | (21) |
| 52 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | 38.7 | 1,038.2 | 14.5 | -9.9% | (10) |
| 53 | Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley, CA Met Div | 37.6 | 1,081.5 | 21.3 | -13.6% | 9 |
| 54 | Richmond, VA | 37.4 | 638.1 | 7.9 | -17.8% | 6 |
| 55 | Kansas City, MO | 36.8 | 571.7 | 14.5 | -13.0% | 3 |
| 56 | Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County, PA Met Div | 36.2 | 1,024.8 | 20.6 | -14.3% | not ranked |
| 57 | Oklahoma City, OK | 34.1 | 625.8 | 8.3 | -18.6% | 9 |
| 58 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 33.5 | 753.9 | 11.0 | -13.9% | 1 |
| 59 | Newark, NJ-PA Met Div | 32.8 | 1,188.1 | 24.2 | -13.3% | (2) |
| 60 | Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI Met Div | 32.4 | 734.4 | 7.0 | -12.8% | (21) |
| 61 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 28.1 | 1,319.1 | 11.1 | -20.7% | (13) |
| 62 | Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Met Div | 27.9 | 993.0 | 13.0 | -14.9% | (7) |
| 63 | Orange-Rockland-Westchester, NY | 23.9 | 688.8 | 13.2 | -16.8% | not ranked |
| 64 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 23.7 | 516.4 | 8.2 | -16.9% | (14) |
| 65 | Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY Met Div | 22.8 | 1,292.3 | 21.4 | -18.7% | (21) |
| 66 | Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA | 19.5 | 902.1 | 13.6 | -24.0% | (2) |
Mid Sized Cities Information Jobs – 2015 Best Cities Rankings
Read about how we selected the 2015 Best Cities for Job Growth
We used five measures of growth to rank MSAs over the past 10 years. “Large” areas include those with a current nonfarm employment base of at least 450,000 jobs. “Midsize” areas range from 150,000 to 450,000 jobs. “Small” areas have as many as 150,000 jobs. This year’s rankings reflect the new Office of Management and Budget definitions of MSAs for all series released after March 2015. As a result, the MSA listed in this year’s rankings do not necessary correspond directly to those listed in prior years. In some instances, MSAs were consolidated with others — for example Pascagoula, MS, was combined with the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, MSA to form the new Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS, MSA. Others were separated from previously consolidated MSAs and in still other instances individual counties were shifted from one MSA to another. The bottom line is that this year’s rankings are based on good time series for the newly defined MSAs but may not be precisely comparable to those listed in prior years. The total number of MSAs included in this year’s rankings has risen from 398 to 421. This year’s rankings reflect the current size of each MSA’s employment.
| 2014 MSA Info Ranking – Midsized MSAs | Area | 2015 Weighted INDEX | 2014 Nonfarm Emplymt (1000s) | 2014 Info Emplymt | Total Information Emplymt Cum Growth 2009-2014 | 2015 Change from 2014 – Midsized MSAs |
| 1 | Savannah, GA | 96.6 | 168.1 | 2.0 | 28.3% | 63 |
| 2 | Tallahassee, FL | 93.5 | 176.3 | 3.9 | 23.2% | 14 |
| 3 | Baton Rouge, LA | 93.5 | 399.8 | 6.0 | 28.6% | 3 |
| 4 | Provo-Orem, UT | 92.1 | 219.7 | 10.2 | 30.1% | (3) |
| 5 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 89.6 | 294.2 | 4.2 | 17.8% | 3 |
| 6 | Madison, WI | 89.5 | 386.9 | 14.8 | 36.1% | (3) |
| 7 | Ann Arbor, MI | 89.4 | 211.3 | 5.0 | 26.1% | 14 |
| 8 | Jackson, MS | 85.1 | 273.3 | 5.3 | 19.4% | 14 |
| 9 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 80.3 | 180.0 | 4.5 | 32.4% | (5) |
| 10 | Springfield, MO | 79.4 | 204.8 | 4.3 | 7.6% | 24 |
| 11 | Lincoln, NE | 77.1 | 185.7 | 2.6 | 13.0% | 2 |
| 12 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 76.1 | 247.9 | 2.3 | 9.5% | 8 |
| 13 | El Paso, TX | 75.9 | 296.7 | 5.9 | 16.4% | (2) |
| 14 | Huntsville, AL | 75.6 | 217.9 | 2.7 | 14.1% | (7) |
| 15 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | 75.2 | 324.3 | 5.3 | 2.6% | (6) |
| 16 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT NECTA | 74.0 | 409.4 | 11.4 | 10.0% | (11) |
| 17 | Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 70.1 | 228.2 | 3.2 | 6.7% | (7) |
| 18 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 70.0 | 295.6 | 5.5 | 5.1% | 23 |
| 19 | Winston-Salem, NC | 69.8 | 255.2 | 2.3 | 0.0% | 14 |
| 20 | Green Bay, WI | 69.6 | 173.6 | 2.1 | 1.6% | 40 |
| 21 | Tacoma-Lakewood, WA Met Div | 66.4 | 293.5 | 2.9 | 0.0% | (3) |
| 22 | Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA | 65.2 | 235.4 | 3.1 | 8.1% | (5) |
| 23 | Knoxville, TN | 64.3 | 382.8 | 5.8 | 3.0% | (4) |
| 24 | Fresno, CA | 63.5 | 319.2 | 3.9 | 1.7% | 22 |
| 25 | Asheville, NC | 62.9 | 181.4 | 1.9 | -4.9% | 13 |
| 26 | Boise City, ID | 62.6 | 284.2 | 4.4 | -0.8% | (14) |
| 27 | North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL | 62.3 | 276.7 | 3.4 | 0.0% | 18 |
| 28 | Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC | 61.1 | 394.4 | 7.1 | 3.4% | (1) |
| 29 | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | 61.0 | 354.0 | 6.2 | 6.3% | (5) |
| 30 | Anchorage, AK | 60.3 | 177.7 | 4.5 | -3.6% | 5 |
| 31 | Lexington-Fayette, KY | 59.5 | 268.3 | 5.8 | 7.5% | 23 |
| 32 | Santa Rosa, CA | 58.7 | 193.7 | 2.7 | 3.8% | (3) |
| 33 | Columbia, SC | 57.4 | 375.8 | 5.5 | -3.0% | (2) |
| 34 | Akron, OH | 56.9 | 332.2 | 3.9 | -5.6% | (6) |
| 35 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 55.8 | 239.1 | 3.1 | 6.9% | (10) |
| 36 | Mobile, AL | 55.6 | 174.8 | 2.0 | -11.6% | 0 |
| 37 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | 55.4 | 486.6 | 11.1 | -2.9% | (2) |
| 38 | Lansing-East Lansing, MI | 53.9 | 225.6 | 2.8 | 7.7% | (36) |
| 39 | Elgin, IL Met Div | 52.6 | 249.9 | 3.7 | -11.9% | not ranked |
| 40 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | 52.6 | 242.1 | 2.9 | -23.0% | 17 |
| 41 | Montgomery, AL | 51.1 | 170.3 | 2.2 | 1.6% | (11) |
| 42 | Boulder, CO | 51.0 | 178.3 | 8.2 | -6.5% | (2) |
| 43 | Corpus Christi, TX | 49.0 | 196.6 | 2.1 | -8.7% | (1) |
| 44 | Gary, IN Met Div | 48.6 | 276.5 | 2.1 | -10.1% | (18) |
| 45 | Canton-Massillon, OH | 47.8 | 172.2 | 1.7 | -15.0% | 8 |
| 46 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO | 47.6 | 227.8 | 1.9 | -12.3% | 13 |
| 47 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | 47.6 | 212.1 | 2.1 | -3.1% | 33 |
| 48 | Worcester, MA-CT NECTA | 47.3 | 277.1 | 3.4 | 0.0% | (34) |
| 49 | Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | 47.2 | 168.8 | 1.5 | -6.3% | 22 |
| 50 | Framingham, MA NECTA Div | 47.1 | 171.0 | 5.3 | -5.9% | 1 |
| 51 | Kansas City, KS | 47.0 | 458.8 | 15.1 | -8.3% | 1 |
| 52 | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 46.7 | 205.5 | 1.6 | -10.9% | 22 |
| 53 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | 45.8 | 199.8 | 1.9 | -25.3% | 34 |
| 54 | Urban Honolulu, HI | 45.6 | 467.2 | 7.2 | -0.9% | (18) |
| 55 | Delaware County, PA | 44.6 | 232.4 | 2.6 | -12.4% | not ranked |
| 56 | Colorado Springs, CO | 43.8 | 263.9 | 6.8 | -3.3% | 0 |
| 57 | Greensboro-High Point, NC | 43.6 | 354.7 | 5.0 | -10.2% | 19 |
| 58 | Springfield, MA-CT NECTA | 43.3 | 324.0 | 3.7 | -7.5% | (43) |
| 59 | Ogden-Clearfield, UT | 43.0 | 234.7 | 2.1 | -4.5% | (20) |
| 60 | Wichita, KS | 42.6 | 294.5 | 4.5 | -18.2% | 18 |
| 61 | Lancaster, PA | 41.6 | 240.5 | 3.1 | -13.1% | 0 |
| 62 | Toledo, OH | 41.6 | 298.3 | 3.1 | -1.1% | (25) |
| 63 | Lafayette, LA | 40.7 | 221.8 | 2.9 | -9.4% | 0 |
| 64 | Reno, NV | 40.4 | 204.2 | 2.0 | -16.7% | 25 |
| 65 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | 40.4 | 457.2 | 8.3 | -10.1% | (10) |
| 66 | Reading, PA | 39.3 | 176.7 | 1.3 | -4.9% | 4 |
| 67 | Albuquerque, NM | 39.3 | 380.3 | 7.8 | -15.9% | 2 |
| 68 | Bakersfield, CA | 39.2 | 261.7 | 2.3 | -13.6% | (21) |
| 69 | Fort Wayne, IN | 37.6 | 212.9 | 3.0 | -8.2% | (26) |
| 70 | Portland-South Portland, ME NECTA | 37.2 | 193.8 | 3.1 | -16.2% | 11 |
| 71 | Trenton, NJ | 37.0 | 252.9 | 5.0 | -18.0% | (27) |
| 72 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | 36.3 | 183.0 | 2.4 | -18.2% | (24) |
| 73 | Tulsa, OK | 35.5 | 445.6 | 7.5 | -11.4% | (6) |
| 74 | Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS | 35.1 | 152.0 | 1.5 | -6.3% | not ranked |
| 75 | Syracuse, NY | 33.4 | 318.1 | 4.5 | -12.4% | (9) |
| 76 | Peoria, IL | 32.9 | 178.0 | 2.2 | -10.8% | (11) |
| 77 | Tucson, AZ | 31.6 | 370.8 | 4.1 | -8.9% | (27) |
| 78 | Calvert-Charles-Prince George’s, MD | 31.6 | 387.7 | 4.9 | -2.0% | (16) |
| 79 | Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA | 31.4 | 226.2 | 1.9 | -20.8% | 9 |
| 80 | Modesto, CA | 31.0 | 163.0 | 0.9 | -25.0% | 11 |
| 81 | York-Hanover, PA | 29.4 | 180.1 | 1.7 | -17.7% | (49) |
| 82 | Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA | 28.4 | 330.1 | 4.5 | -22.0% | (24) |
| 83 | Dayton, OH | 28.0 | 374.5 | 8.4 | -21.5% | 3 |
| 84 | Baltimore City, MD | 26.9 | 365.1 | 3.6 | -12.1% | 0 |
| 85 | Roanoke, VA | 26.9 | 161.4 | 1.7 | -15.0% | (8) |
| 86 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | 26.6 | 347.8 | 6.7 | -14.9% | (18) |
| 87 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | 26.2 | 184.6 | 2.6 | -21.2% | (8) |
| 88 | Salem, OR | 25.9 | 151.5 | 1.0 | -23.1% | 49 |
| 89 | Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Met Div | 24.3 | 399.2 | 3.6 | -18.2% | (14) |
| 90 | Rockford, IL | 23.0 | 150.9 | 1.4 | -22.2% | 68 |
| 91 | Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA | 22.5 | 262.5 | 3.7 | -29.9% | (1) |
| 92 | Evansville, IN-KY | 21.7 | 157.9 | 1.8 | -24.3% | (10) |
| 93 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | 20.2 | 345.7 | 6.6 | -20.9% | (10) |
| 94 | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL | 20.2 | 166.6 | 2.2 | -27.5% | (22) |
| 95 | Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Met Div | 16.6 | 352.1 | 4.1 | -23.3% | (10) |
| 96 | Shreveport-Bossier City, LA | 15.9 | 183.5 | 2.0 | -52.0% | (47) |
| 97 | New Haven, CT NECTA | 13.3 | 282.4 | 4.0 | -32.2% | (5) |
Small Cities Information Jobs – 2015 Best Cities Rankings
Read about how we selected the 2015 Best Cities for Job Growth
We used five measures of growth to rank MSAs over the past 10 years. “Large” areas include those with a current nonfarm employment base of at least 450,000 jobs. “Midsize” areas range from 150,000 to 450,000 jobs. “Small” areas have as many as 150,000 jobs. This year’s rankings reflect the new Office of Management and Budget definitions of MSAs for all series released after March 2015. As a result, the MSA listed in this year’s rankings do not necessary correspond directly to those listed in prior years. In some instances, MSAs were consolidated with others — for example Pascagoula, MS, was combined with the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, MSA to form the new Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS, MSA. Others were separated from previously consolidated MSAs and in still other instances individual counties were shifted from one MSA to another. The bottom line is that this year’s rankings are based on good time series for the newly defined MSAs but may not be precisely comparable to those listed in prior years. The total number of MSAs included in this year’s rankings has risen from 398 to 421. This year’s rankings reflect the current size of each MSA’s employment.
| 2014 MSA Info Ranking – SMALL MSAs | Area | 2015 Weighted INDEX | 2014 Nonfarm Emplymt (1000s) | 2014 Info Emplymt | Total Information Emplymt Cum Growth 2009-2014 | 2014 Info Rank Within Size |
| 1 | Janesville-Beloit, WI | 99.3 | 66.8 | 1.8 | 63.6% | 1 |
| 2 | Rochester, MN | 94.3 | 114.9 | 2.0 | 27.1% | 7 |
| 3 | Logan, UT-ID | 88.8 | 58.3 | 0.9 | 28.6% | 3 |
| 4 | College Station-Bryan, TX | 87.5 | 106.1 | 1.4 | 27.3% | 9 |
| 5 | Laredo, TX | 85.6 | 100.2 | 0.7 | 16.7% | 5 |
| 6 | Cheyenne, WY | 84.7 | 47.1 | 1.2 | 9.1% | 15 |
| 7 | Fond du Lac, WI | 84.6 | 48.3 | 1.0 | 11.1% | 8 |
| 8 | Wilmington, NC | 82.6 | 117.1 | 2.8 | 0.0% | 33 |
| 9 | Victoria, TX | 78.9 | 45.5 | 0.5 | 0.0% | 49 |
| 10 | Oshkosh-Neenah, WI | 78.6 | 95.1 | 1.7 | 13.3% | 18 |
| 11 | Portsmouth, NH-ME NECTA | 78.3 | 83.6 | 2.4 | 5.9% | 10 |
| 12 | Bloomington, IN | 78.3 | 77.0 | 1.4 | 0.0% | 38 |
| 13 | Bend-Redmond, OR | 77.9 | 70.3 | 1.5 | 7.1% | 20 |
| 14 | Flint, MI | 77.8 | 142.3 | 4.1 | 32.6% | 2 |
| 15 | Sheboygan, WI | 77.3 | 60.9 | 0.3 | 0.0% | 129 |
| 16 | Abilene, TX | 75.5 | 69.2 | 1.2 | 9.1% | 4 |
| 17 | Rapid City, SD | 75.3 | 65.0 | 1.0 | 0.0% | 123 |
| 18 | Lawrence-Methuen Town-Salem, MA-NH NECTA Div | 75.1 | 79.2 | 1.6 | 33.3% | |
| 19 | Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury Town, MA-NH NECTA Div | 74.6 | 62.8 | 0.4 | 0.0% | 43 |
| 20 | Clarksville, TN-KY | 73.7 | 88.2 | 1.2 | 20.7% | 31 |
| 21 | Columbus, IN | 73.7 | 51.8 | 0.5 | 25.0% | 32 |
| 22 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA | 73.4 | 111.1 | 1.4 | 16.7% | 6 |
| 23 | Tyler, TX | 71.8 | 100.2 | 2.3 | 11.1% | 12 |
| 24 | Napa, CA | 71.6 | 69.5 | 0.6 | 5.6% | 100 |
| 25 | Bay City, MI | 71.0 | 37.4 | 0.5 | 0.0% | 27 |
| 26 | Champaign-Urbana, IL | 70.3 | 108.7 | 2.6 | -7.2% | 13 |
| 27 | Pocatello, ID | 69.8 | 35.2 | 0.4 | 0.0% | 90 |
| 28 | Peabody-Salem-Beverly, MA NECTA Div | 67.7 | 96.2 | 1.3 | 30.0% | 79 |
| 29 | Port St. Lucie, FL | 67.2 | 135.3 | 1.4 | 0.0% | 74 |
| 30 | Fort Collins, CO | 67.0 | 148.9 | 2.5 | -2.6% | 56 |
| 31 | Jackson, MI | 66.7 | 55.9 | 0.4 | 0.0% | 160 |
| 32 | Spartanburg, SC | 66.6 | 140.6 | 1.1 | 0.0% | |
| 33 | Cleveland, TN | 66.1 | 46.0 | 0.3 | 0.0% | 26 |
| 34 | Burlington, NC | 65.8 | 60.9 | 0.5 | 0.0% | 36 |
| 35 | Fargo, ND-MN | 65.4 | 140.2 | 3.3 | -5.7% | 34 |
| 36 | Auburn-Opelika, AL | 65.1 | 60.7 | 0.5 | 0.0% | 23 |
| 37 | Flagstaff, AZ | 65.1 | 64.3 | 0.4 | 0.0% | 24 |
| 38 | Taunton-Middleborough-Norton, MA NECTA Div | 64.8 | 58.7 | 1.3 | 0.0% | |
| 39 | Walla Walla, WA | 64.5 | 27.1 | 0.4 | 0.0% | |
| 40 | Gainesville, FL | 64.2 | 135.2 | 1.6 | 0.0% | 94 |
| 41 | Lewiston, ID-WA | 64.1 | 27.4 | 0.4 | 0.0% | 25 |
| 42 | Redding, CA | 63.4 | 63.1 | 0.7 | 10.5% | 65 |
| 43 | Muskegon, MI | 63.3 | 63.0 | 0.8 | 0.0% | 30 |
| 44 | Kokomo, IN | 63.0 | 40.7 | 0.4 | 0.0% | 47 |
| 45 | Eugene, OR | 62.9 | 149.7 | 3.4 | -1.9% | 28 |
| 46 | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC | 62.7 | 148.3 | 2.3 | 0.0% | |
| 47 | Grants Pass, OR | 62.4 | 24.5 | 0.3 | 0.0% | |
| 48 | Bismarck, ND | 61.4 | 74.0 | 1.0 | 3.6% | 98 |
| 49 | Santa Fe, NM | 61.1 | 61.8 | 0.9 | -12.9% | 58 |
| 50 | Watertown-Fort Drum, NY | 60.8 | 41.6 | 0.7 | 0.0% | |
| 51 | Prescott, AZ | 60.5 | 60.9 | 0.6 | 0.0% | 35 |
| 52 | Dover-Durham, NH-ME NECTA | 60.4 | 52.7 | 1.1 | 0.0% | |
| 53 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | 60.2 | 138.1 | 1.2 | -42.9% | 122 |
| 54 | Chico, CA | 60.1 | 76.9 | 1.1 | 6.7% | 113 |
| 55 | Las Cruces, NM | 58.7 | 71.1 | 0.9 | 8.0% | 22 |
| 56 | Decatur, AL | 58.6 | 53.8 | 0.3 | 0.0% | 50 |
| 57 | Binghamton, NY | 58.6 | 105.7 | 1.9 | -3.4% | 16 |
| 58 | Sioux Falls, SD | 58.4 | 146.5 | 2.7 | -10.0% | 46 |
| 59 | Bangor, ME NECTA | 57.3 | 66.4 | 1.1 | 0.0% | 119 |
| 60 | Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, MA-NH NECTA Div | 56.9 | 147.6 | 6.4 | 3.2% | 143 |
| 61 | Albany, OR | 56.9 | 41.1 | 0.4 | 0.0% | |
| 62 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | 56.6 | 37.6 | 0.2 | 0.0% | 110 |
| 63 | Fairbanks, AK | 55.8 | 37.5 | 0.5 | 0.0% | 104 |
| 64 | Terre Haute, IN | 55.3 | 70.8 | 0.7 | 0.0% | 66 |
| 65 | St. George, UT | 54.8 | 54.6 | 0.7 | 0.0% | 53 |
| 66 | Yuba City, CA | 53.4 | 40.5 | 0.4 | -14.3% | 62 |
| 67 | Wichita Falls, TX | 53.2 | 58.5 | 1.1 | -8.3% | 76 |
| 68 | South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI | 53.0 | 137.6 | 1.8 | 0.0% | 67 |
| 69 | San Rafael, CA Met. Div | 52.5 | 113.0 | 2.6 | 36.8% | |
| 70 | Texarkana, TX-AR | 52.4 | 59.1 | 0.5 | -16.7% | 71 |
| 71 | Madera, CA | 51.5 | 36.5 | 0.4 | -14.3% | 42 |
| 72 | Charlottesville, VA | 51.5 | 112.2 | 2.1 | 0.0% | |
| 73 | Lawton, OK | 51.4 | 45.4 | 0.5 | -16.7% | 64 |
| 74 | Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL | 51.2 | 48.4 | 0.6 | 0.0% | 17 |
| 75 | Pueblo, CO | 51.2 | 60.6 | 0.7 | -12.5% | 44 |
| 76 | Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL | 51.0 | 136.2 | 1.5 | -6.3% | 48 |
| 77 | Altoona, PA | 50.4 | 61.1 | 0.8 | -7.4% | 52 |
| 78 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT NECTA | 50.0 | 124.2 | 2.3 | -11.5% | 91 |
| 79 | Jackson, TN | 49.9 | 65.6 | 0.6 | -10.0% | 124 |
| 80 | Greenville, NC | 49.0 | 78.4 | 0.9 | -10.0% | 19 |
| 81 | Corvallis, OR | 48.7 | 40.3 | 0.7 | -22.2% | 149 |
| 82 | La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN | 48.7 | 77.2 | 1.1 | 0.0% | 68 |
| 83 | Visalia-Porterville, CA | 48.2 | 116.6 | 0.9 | -18.2% | 141 |
| 84 | Grand Forks, ND-MN | 48.1 | 58.0 | 0.6 | -10.0% | 72 |
| 85 | Saginaw, MI | 47.4 | 88.7 | 1.3 | 0.0% | 21 |
| 86 | Charleston, WV | 47.3 | 123.3 | 1.7 | -15.0% | 99 |
| 87 | Dothan, AL | 47.3 | 57.3 | 0.7 | -12.5% | 87 |
| 88 | Kankakee, IL | 47.3 | 45.2 | 0.5 | -17.6% | 73 |
| 89 | Olympia-Tumwater, WA | 46.5 | 108.9 | 0.9 | -6.9% | |
| 90 | Utica-Rome, NY | 46.4 | 127.8 | 1.8 | -19.7% | 159 |
| 91 | Nashua, NH-MA NECTA Div | 46.3 | 125.4 | 1.9 | -6.7% | 105 |
| 92 | Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA | 45.6 | 122.2 | 2.0 | -10.4% | 29 |
| 93 | Cedar Rapids, IA | 45.4 | 140.5 | 4.7 | -4.1% | 69 |
| 94 | Racine, WI | 45.3 | 76.0 | 0.4 | -7.7% | 88 |
| 95 | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC | 44.5 | 147.2 | 0.9 | 0.0% | 14 |
| 96 | Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV | 43.9 | 103.4 | 2.2 | -4.3% | 82 |
| 97 | Kennewick-Richland, WA | 43.8 | 104.6 | 0.8 | -11.1% | |
| 98 | Johnson City, TN | 43.7 | 78.6 | 1.5 | -22.0% | 132 |
| 99 | Columbus, GA-AL | 43.6 | 123.2 | 1.6 | -11.3% | 116 |
| 100 | Odessa, TX | 42.7 | 81.7 | 0.5 | -16.7% | 109 |
| 101 | Eau Claire, WI | 42.3 | 85.3 | 0.9 | -10.0% | 103 |
| 102 | Longview, TX | 42.2 | 105.4 | 1.4 | -10.9% | 61 |
| 103 | Manchester, NH NECTA | 42.0 | 108.6 | 3.0 | -9.1% | 57 |
| 104 | Amarillo, TX | 41.9 | 117.4 | 1.4 | -12.5% | 97 |
| 105 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 41.7 | 104.4 | 0.8 | -17.2% | 115 |
| 106 | Waterbury, CT NECTA | 41.4 | 68.4 | 0.7 | -8.7% | 95 |
| 107 | Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH | 41.3 | 141.5 | 1.3 | -13.3% | |
| 108 | Elmira, NY | 40.0 | 39.6 | 0.4 | -20.0% | 89 |
| 109 | Pittsfield, MA NECTA | 39.8 | 41.4 | 0.6 | -5.6% | 107 |
| 110 | Punta Gorda, FL | 39.3 | 44.6 | 0.4 | -14.3% | 112 |
| 111 | Yuma, AZ | 39.2 | 52.7 | 0.5 | -6.3% | 45 |
| 112 | Dutchess County-Putnam County, NY Met. Div | 38.7 | 142.4 | 1.9 | -14.9% | |
| 113 | Topeka, KS | 38.6 | 111.6 | 1.5 | -25.0% | 144 |
| 114 | Niles-Benton Harbor, MI | 38.6 | 60.2 | 0.5 | -11.8% | 133 |
| 115 | Leominster-Gardner, MA NECTA | 37.8 | 50.4 | 0.4 | -20.0% | 152 |
| 116 | Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead, MA NECTA Div | 37.8 | 45.2 | 1.0 | -12.1% | |
| 117 | Muncie, IN | 37.5 | 51.0 | 0.3 | -25.0% | 86 |
| 118 | Barnstable Town, MA NECTA | 37.3 | 97.6 | 1.5 | -11.8% | 54 |
| 119 | Fort Smith, AR-OK | 36.7 | 113.4 | 1.2 | 0.0% | 63 |
| 120 | Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN | 35.9 | 102.3 | 0.9 | -10.0% | 11 |
| 121 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 35.8 | 95.7 | 0.8 | -14.3% | 128 |
| 122 | Lynchburg, VA | 35.6 | 103.7 | 0.9 | -18.2% | |
| 123 | Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville, AL | 35.2 | 46.3 | 0.6 | -25.0% | 135 |
| 124 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | 35.1 | 130.4 | 1.1 | -21.4% | 108 |
| 125 | Fayetteville, NC | 34.7 | 128.6 | 1.4 | -8.7% | 70 |
| 126 | St. Cloud, MN | 34.6 | 107.0 | 1.6 | -9.4% | 40 |
| 127 | Glens Falls, NY | 34.3 | 53.6 | 0.9 | -10.0% | 41 |
| 128 | Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, MA NECTA Div | 33.4 | 80.8 | 0.6 | -14.3% | 140 |
| 129 | Springfield, IL | 32.8 | 111.4 | 1.7 | -19.0% | 142 |
| 130 | Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI | 32.5 | 72.4 | 0.6 | -25.0% | |
| 131 | Johnstown, PA | 30.3 | 57.8 | 0.7 | -12.5% | 114 |
| 132 | Casper, WY | 30.2 | 43.2 | 0.4 | -20.0% | 83 |
| 133 | Duluth, MN-WI | 29.6 | 134.0 | 1.4 | -20.4% | 84 |
| 134 | Salisbury, MD-DE | 28.3 | 142.3 | 1.2 | -21.7% | |
| 135 | Gadsden, AL | 28.3 | 37.6 | 0.3 | -40.0% | 55 |
| 136 | Decatur, IL | 27.9 | 50.8 | 0.6 | -21.7% | 138 |
| 137 | Idaho Falls, ID | 27.3 | 60.2 | 0.9 | -30.8% | 120 |
| 138 | Kingston, NY | 26.6 | 60.9 | 0.9 | -10.0% | 81 |
| 139 | Danville, IL | 26.4 | 29.3 | 0.2 | -33.3% | 150 |
| 140 | Merced, CA | 26.1 | 64.5 | 0.4 | -33.3% | 117 |
| 141 | Wausau, WI | 26.0 | 71.6 | 0.4 | -29.4% | 145 |
| 142 | Lubbock, TX | 25.1 | 138.6 | 3.8 | -16.8% | 111 |
| 143 | Ocala, FL | 24.4 | 98.3 | 0.8 | -25.0% | 139 |
| 144 | El Centro, CA | 24.3 | 54.9 | 0.3 | -25.0% | 77 |
| 145 | Ithaca, NY | 23.8 | 70.6 | 0.4 | -20.0% | 51 |
| 146 | Waco, TX | 23.5 | 112.4 | 1.2 | -16.3% | 92 |
| 147 | Owensboro, KY | 23.5 | 52.6 | 0.4 | -20.0% | 125 |
| 148 | Sherman-Denison, TX | 23.0 | 45.6 | 0.4 | -20.0% | 37 |
| 149 | Appleton, WI | 22.6 | 122.1 | 1.5 | -27.4% | 130 |
| 150 | Salinas, CA | 22.5 | 132.8 | 1.4 | -17.6% | 118 |
| 151 | Killeen-Temple, TX | 22.4 | 136.2 | 1.8 | -23.6% | 59 |
| 152 | Grand Junction, CO | 22.1 | 61.9 | 0.7 | -22.2% | 60 |
| 153 | Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ | 21.9 | 34.7 | 0.3 | -50.0% | |
| 154 | Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL | 20.8 | 56.4 | 0.4 | -29.4% | 134 |
| 155 | Midland, TX | 19.7 | 98.6 | 0.9 | -25.0% | 154 |
| 156 | Panama City, FL | 18.6 | 78.4 | 1.1 | -31.3% | 136 |
| 157 | Kalamazoo-Portage, MI | 18.1 | 141.0 | 0.9 | -34.1% | 147 |
| 158 | Coeur d’Alene, ID | 18.1 | 58.3 | 0.6 | -29.2% | 78 |
| 159 | Greeley, CO | 17.7 | 101.5 | 0.7 | -28.6% | 131 |
| 160 | Medford, OR | 16.7 | 82.0 | 1.3 | -23.5% | 121 |
| 161 | Bloomington, IL | 15.8 | 94.4 | 0.7 | -22.2% | 146 |
| 162 | Elkhart-Goshen, IN | 15.3 | 124.5 | 0.5 | -21.1% | 85 |
| 163 | Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ | 12.5 | 56.6 | 0.5 | -42.3% | 96 |
| 164 | Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ | 10.7 | 46.6 | 0.6 | -30.8% | 155 |
| 165 | Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | 10.3 | 130.6 | 0.7 | -30.0% | 102 |
| 166 | Erie, PA | 10.1 | 130.6 | 1.2 | -29.4% | 153 |
| 167 | San Angelo, TX | 8.2 | 49.3 | 0.8 | -34.2% | 156 |
| 168 | Dover, DE | 7.3 | 68.0 | 0.4 | -33.3% | 93 |
| 169 | Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI NECTA | 7.2 | 127.5 | 1.1 | -32.7% | 127 |
| 170 | Lewiston-Auburn, ME NECTA | 6.6 | 50.6 | 0.5 | -34.8% | 148 |
| 171 | Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL | 5.1 | 103.4 | 0.9 | -32.5% | 151 |
| 172 | New Bedford, MA NECTA | 4.2 | 66.3 | 0.4 | -42.9% | 106 |
| 173 | Morristown, TN | 3.9 | 44.2 | 0.3 | -40.0% | 126 |
Smaller Stars: The Best Small And Medium-Size Cities For Jobs 2015
A look at job growth in America’s small and medium-size cities provides a very different, perhaps more intimate portrait of the ground-level economy across a wider swathe of the country than our survey last week of The Best Big Cities For Jobs. It takes us to many states that lack large cities, particularly in the Midwest and South. In contrast to our big city list, information technology is a driving factor in only a handful of smaller metro areas – grittier sectors like energy and manufacturing are the livelihood of a good many, as well as tourism for a surprisingly large number of thriving places that have become vacation meccas for the increasing number of affluent residents of major urban areas.
The 421 metropolitan statistical areas we evaluated in our rankings, ranging from large to small, account for 87.6% of all U.S. nonfarm employment. Of them, the country’s small MSAs (those with less than 150,000 nonfarm jobs) and medium-sized ones (between 150,000 and 450,000 nonfarm jobs) account for just over a third of U.S. urban employment. Job creation in these communities since 2000 has been roughly comparable to the nation’s larger metro areas — total nonfarm employment has increased 7.5% in small and medium-size MSAs compared to 7.8% for large ones.
Our rankings are based on employment growth over the short-, medium- and long-term, going back to 2003, and factor in momentum — whether growth is slowing or accelerating. (For a detailed description of our methodology, click here.)
The Slipstream Economies
A good number of our top-ranked smaller cities are posting strong job growth in the slipstream of larger economies. This is clearly the case with our top-ranked medium-size metro area, Provo-Orem, and its northern Utah neighbor, No. 7 Ogden-Clearfield. Both are located along the Wasatch Front not far from the somewhat bright lights of Salt Lake City (and more importantly its airport) and are heavily Mormon. Provo is home to Brigham Young University, the academic center of the Mormon universe with over 29,000 students. That group’s social cohesion, which translates into a high percentage of families with children, as well as emphasis on education and enterprise, underlay the success of these areas.
But what is most striking about these two metro areas is the diversity of their economic growth. Since 2009, for example, employment in the Provo-Orem area is up 23.5%, with gains in virtually every sector, paced by increases in construction and natural resources (60%), information (30.1%), business services (46.5%) and even manufacturing (16.4%). With the exception of information jobs, Ogden has showed a similar, albeit less spectacular pattern of widespread economic growth over the same time period.
Other slipstream economies that are thriving include our second-ranked small city. Greeley, Colo., slightly over an hour’s drive from the Denver airport. Greeley rose seven places from last year, powered largely by 114% employment growth since 2009 in construction and natural resources (oil and gas mostly) as well as solid expansions in business services (up 29.8%) and manufacturing (up 17.2%). As in the case of Provo and Ogden, Greeley benefits from being close to a dynamic large metro area, but can couple that with prized small town attributes like less traffic, good schools, relatively low housing prices and safe streets.
Energy Hot Spots: Not All Cold Yet
Until the recent tumble in energy prices, big oil towns reliably dominated our list. For all sorts of reasons, including fierce local opposition, big metro areas don’t tend to produce oil and natural gas, though the technical and business aspects are dominated by a few, notably Houston. The price plunge had not yet translated into heavy job losses in many energy towns by January 2015, which is as far as our data goes, although some clearly were already hurting.
Take our top-ranked small city, Midland, and nearby No. 3-ranked Odessa, which are in the oil-rich Permian Basin of West Texas. Employment grew 9.1% in Midland last year, the fastest pace of any metro area in the country. Since 2009 the west Texas town has logged almost insane 45.8% expansion in its job base, with a large boost not only in natural resources and construction (108.4% growth), but also manufacturing (up 72.2%), wholesale trade (80.6%) , professional business services (up 40%) as well as leisure and hospitality (likely rooms for the roughnecks). Odessa boasts similar, albeit somewhat less gaudy numbers.
But you don’t have to be in Texas to be an energy boomtown. Bakersfield, Calif., No. 6 on the medium-size list, has managed to retain a strong energy economy in a state that has all but declared war on fossil fuels. Bakersfield has been described as “little Texas,” and it has enjoyed strong, very un-Californian employment growth in such areas as manufacturing, up 17.8% since 2009, trade (19.8%) and natural resources and construction (40.8%). Blue collar employment may be suffering in much of California, but not down in this metro area, best known for country stars like Merle Haggard and highly resistant to the San Francisco-style economic post-industrial model that dominates the state.
Yet there’s no question that there are problems in the oil patch. Some of the biggest decliners on our list from last year are big energy towns, such as Lafayette, La., which slid 43 places to 48th on the mid-size cities list, and Anchorage, Alaska, down 25 places to 63rd. On our small city list, Bismarck, N.D., a major hub for that state’s shale boom, dropped from second last year to 19th this year, and Houma-Thibodaux, La., tumbled 61 places to 81st.
Playground Towns
Looking across the country, however, many of the small cities doing the best are not those that produce anything tangible like energy or cars. There’s been a strong resurgence in what may be considered playgrounds for the expanding ranks of the affluent residents of major urban areas, particularly on the West Coast, where Silicon Valley is minting many millionaires along with its famous billionaires, as well as along the East Coast, where second home and retirement-oriented communities are booming. Last year, vacation home sales broke the national record.
Among the playground areas that are prospering on our small cities are No. 4 Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Fla., where employment expanded 5.4% last year to 136,200 jobs, Napa, Calif. (eighth, with 15.6% job growth since 2009), and Redmond-Bend, Ore. (12th). On our mid-size list, Santa Rosa, Calif., (Sonoma County) ranks 12th and Santa Barbara- Santa Maria, Calif., 17th.
In some of these places, not surprisingly, leisure and hospitality are the largest industry — 19.6% of the workforce in Naples is employed in this sector. Economist Bill Watkins, who has studied these trends in California and Oregon, suggests that the growth of the playground cities reflects the emergence of America’s haute bourgeoisie. “The well-to-do go to these places,” he notes, fueling both their growth and, in hard times, their sometimes sharp declines. “They have second homes and can spend a lot of money.” Watkins’ analysis of Bend, Ore.’s economy, for example, shows that upwards of 80% of the volatility in its economy can be traced to what is occurring in California, notably the Bay Area.
Industrial Cities:Some Up, Some Down
For generations manufacturing in the U.S. has been moving to smaller cities, largely in the South, while Midwestern and northeastern industrial cities have been taking it on the chin. With a modest growth in manufacturing, some small and mid-size cities have done surprisingly well, although many continue to lag, and even fall further in the rankings.
Columbus, Ind., a manufacturing hub that is home to diesel engine maker Cummins, epitomizes the up and down nature of industrial economies. Right now Columbus, riding a new wave of investment from Cummins and other manufacturers, has risen to fifth on our small city list, and is at record high employment. Since 2009 the Indiana metro area’s job count has expanded 23.4% to 51,800, paced by an impressive 43.2% jump in manufacturing.
Sadly, this is not the case for many manufacturing towns. As with the large city list, many of the bottom dwellers are old industrial centers. On the mid-size list, take 91st place Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa., where employment is down 6.6% from 2003, or No. 85 Toledo, Ohio, off 5.4% from 2003. Among small cities furniture manufacturing center Rocky Mount, N.C., fell to 255th, down 4.4% since 2009, while old steel center Weirton-Steubenville, W.V.-Ohio, dropped to 254th place, with employment down 12.7% since 2003.
College Towns And The Future For Small Cities
The future of small city America depends heavily on how these areas adjust to changing economic times. Given that manufacturing and agriculture are becoming less labor intensive, to stay competitive, smaller cities will need to move more aggressively into knowledge-based fields like software, medical services and higher-end business services. Mid-sized college towns like No. 1 Provo, Boulder, Colo. (14th), Lexington, Ky. (19th), and Madison, Wisc. (20th), have experienced steady growth.
Diversification of the economy may be the best guide to future smaller city growth. Madison, for example, has a strong government and education employment base but also is home to growing number of technology firms, with information employment up an impressive 36.1% since 2009. Medical software maker Epic employs 6,800 at its sprawling campus in nearby Verona.
But perhaps the best example of successful small city growth may be Fargo, N.D., a long time butt of sophisto jokes, which ranks sixth on our small metro area list. Fargo, which is also home to North Dakota State University, may not have the cool factor of San Francisco or even Madison, but its economy is extraordinarily balanced, and not nearly as energy-dependent as other North Dakotan cities like Bismarck or Williston. It has posted double-digit employment growth since 2009 in everything from construction and manufacturing to business services and hospitality.
As many of America’s most prosperous metro areas become ever more expensive and highly regulated, notably in California and the Northeast, small-city America could enjoy a renaissance in coming years. But it will take determination on the part of local leaders and residents to begin expanding their economic strategy beyond any one niche, and instead develop a growth economy that can insulate themselves from the downturns that affect any single industry over time.
Joel Kotkin is executive editor of NewGeography.com and Roger Hobbs Distinguished Fellow in Urban Studies at Chapman University, and a member of the editorial board of the Orange County Register. He is also executive director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism. His newest book, The New Class Conflict is now available at Amazon and Telos Press. He is also author of The City: A Global History and The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
Michael Shires, Ph.D. is a professor at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy.
Photo: “Provo Downtown Historic District” by Tricia Simpson – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
The Best Cities For Jobs 2015
Since the U.S. economy imploded in 2008, there’s been a steady shift in leadership in job growth among our major metropolitan areas. In the earliest years, the cities that did the best were those on the East Coast that hosted the two prime beneficiaries of Washington’s resuscitation efforts, the financial industry and the federal bureaucracy. Then the baton was passed to metro areas riding the boom in the energy sector, which, if not totally dead in its tracks, is clearly weaker.
Right now, job creation momentum is the strongest in tech-oriented metropolises and Sun Belt cities with lower costs, particularly the still robust economies of Texas.
Topping our annual ranking of the best big cities for jobs are the main metro areas of Silicon Valley: the San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco Metropolitan Division, followed by San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, swapping their positions from last year.
Our rankings are based on short-, medium- and long-term job creation, going back to 2003, and factor in momentum — whether growth is slowing or accelerating. We have compiled separate rankings for America’s 70 largest metropolitan statistical areas (those with nonfarm employment over 450,000), which are our focus this week, as well as medium-size metro areas (between 150,000 and 450,000 nonfarm jobs) and small ones (less than 150,000 nonfarm jobs) in order to make the comparisons more relevant to each category. (For a detailed description of our methodology, click here.)
An Economy Fit For Geeks
Venture capital and private-equity firms keep pouring money into U.S. technology companies, lured by the promise of huge IPO returns. Last year was the best for new stock offerings since the peak of the dot-com bubble, with 71 biotech IPOs and 55 tech IPOs. It’s continuing to fuel strong job creation in Silicon Valley. Employment expanded 4.8% in the San Francisco Metropolitan Division in 2014, which includes the job-rich suburban expanses of San Mateo to the south, and employment is up 21.2% since 2009. This has been paced by growth in professional business services jobs in the area, up 9% last year, and in information jobs, which includes many social media functions – information employment expanded 8.3% last year and is up 28.7% since 2011.
San Jose which, like San Francisco, was devastated in the tech crash a decade ago, has also rebounded smartly. The San Jose MSA clocked 4.9% job growth last year and 20.0% since 2009. Employment in manufacturing, once the heart of the local economy, has grown 8% since 2011, after a decade of sharp reversals, but the number of information jobs there has exploded, up 16% last year and 35.7% since 2011.
Meanwhile, there’s been a striking reversal of fortune in the greater Washington, D.C., area, while the greater New York area has also fallen off the pace. In the years after the crash, soaring federal spending pushed Washington-Arlington-Alexandria to as high as fifth on our annual list of the best cities for jobs; this year it’s a meager 47th, with job growth of 1.5% in 2014, following meager 0.2% growth in 2013, while Northern Virginia (50th) and Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville (64th) also lost ground, dropping, respectively, five and 15 places.
Job growth has also slowed in the greater New York region, which also was an early star performer in the immediate aftermath of the recession, in part due to the bank bailout that consolidated financial institutions in their strongest home region. Virtually all the areas that make up greater New York have lost ground in our ranking: the New York City MSA has fallen to 17th place from seventh last year, as employment growth tailed off to 2.6% in 2014 from 3.2% in 2013. Meanwhile Nassau-Suffolk ranks 49th, Rockland-Westchester 60th and Newark is second from the bottom among the biggest metro areas in 69th place.
The Shift To ‘Opportunity Cities’ Continues
Not every tech hot spot has the Bay Area’s advantages, which include venture capital, the presence of the world’s top technology companies and a host of people with the know-how to start and grow companies.
But other metro areas have something Silicon Valley lacks: affordable housing. Most of the rest of our top 15 metro areas have far lower home prices than the Bay Area, or for that matter Boston, Los Angeles or New York. And they also have experienced strong job growth, often across a wider array of industries, which provides opportunities for a broader portion of the population.
The combination of lower prices and strong job opportunities are what earns them our label of “opportunity cities.” The Bay Area may attract many of the best and brightest, but it is too expensive for most. Despite the current boom, the area’s population growth has been quite modest — San Jose has had an average population growth rate of 1.5% over the past four years. In contrast, seven of our top 10 metro areas, including third place Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, and No. 4 Austin, Texas, are also in the top 10 in terms of population growth since 2000. If prices and costs are reasonable, people will go to places where work is most abundant.
In the Dallas metro area, the job count grew 4.2% last year, paced by an 18.6% expansion in professional business services, while overall employment is up 15.7% since 2009. Job growth last year in Austin, Texas, was a healthy 3.9%, while the information sector expanded by 4.7% and since 2011 by 17.8%.
Many Texas cities, of course, have benefited from the energy boom — the recent downturn in oil prices make it likely that growth, particularly in No. 6 Houston, will decelerate in coming years.
But what is most remarkable about the top-performing cities is the diversity of their economies. Most have tech clusters, but several, such as Houston, Nashville, Tenn., Dallas and Charlotte, N.C., have growing manufacturing, trade, transportation and business services sectors. The immediate prognosis, however, may be brightest in places like Denver and Orlando, where growth is less tied to energy than business services, trade and tourism. Nashville, which places fifth on our list, has particularly bright prospects, due not only to its growing tech and manufacturing economy, but also its strong health care sector which, according to one recent study, contributes an overall economic benefit of nearly $30 billion annually and more than 210,000 jobs to the local economy.
The Also-Rans
Some economies lower in our rankings have made strong improvements, notably Atlanta-Sandy Spring-Roswell, which rose to 12th this year, a jump of 12 places. Long a star performer, the Georgia metro area stumbled through the housing bust, but it appears to have regained its footing, with strong job growth across a host of fields from manufacturing and information to health, and particularly business services, a category in which employment has increased 24% since 2009.
In California, one big turnaround story has been the Riverside-San Bernardino area, which gained six places to rank 11th this year as it has again begun to benefit from migration caused by coastal Southern California’s impossibly high home prices.
Several mid-American metro areas also are showing strong improvement. Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky., jumped fifteen places to 21st, propelled by strong growth in manufacturing, business services and finance. Kansas City, Kan. (23rd), and Kansas City, Mo. (46th), both made double-digit jumps in our rankings. In Michigan, Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, bolstered by the recovery of the auto industry, gained six places to 59th, while manufacturing hub Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills picked up two to 39th. These may not be high growth areas, but these metro area no longer consistently sit at the bottom of the list.
Losing Ground
One of the biggest resurgent stars in past rankings, New Orleans-Metairie, dropped 17 places to 43rd, while Oklahoma City fell 17 places to 33rd. These cities lack the economic diversity to withstand a long-term loss of energy jobs if the sector goes into a prolonged downturn.
Yet perhaps the most troubling among the also-rans are the metro areas that have remained steadily at the bottom. These are largely Rust Belt cities such as last place Camden, N.J., which has been at or near that position for years.
Future Prospects
Now the best prospects appear to be in tech-heavy regions, but it’s important to recognize that a key contributor to the tech sector’s frenzy of venture capital and IPOs had been the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented monetary interventions, which are now phasing out. As it is, headwinds to expansion in the Bay Area are strong. High housing prices, according to recent study, may make it very difficult for these companies to expand their local workforces. The median price of houses in tech suburbs like Los Gatos now stand at nearly $2 million — rich for all but a few — while downtown Palo Alto office rents have risen an impossible 43% in the last five years.
Companies like Google, which has run into opposition over its proposed new headquarters expansion, may choose to shift more employment to other tech centers, such as Austin, Denver, Seattle, Raleigh and Salt Lake City, where the cost of doing business tends to be less. Similarly the stronger dollar could erode the modest progress made by some industrial cities, such as Detroit and Warren, as it gives a strong advantage to foreign competitors.
Normally we would expect these processes to play out slowly. But in these turbulent times, it’s best to keep an eye out for disruptive changes — a new economic cataclysm, should one occur, could quickly shift the playing field once again.
Joel Kotkin is executive editor of NewGeography.com and Roger Hobbs Distinguished Fellow in Urban Studies at Chapman University, and a member of the editorial board of the Orange County Register. He is also executive director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism. His newest book, The New Class Conflict is now available at Amazon and Telos Press. He is also author of The City: A Global History and The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
Michael Shires, Ph.D. is a professor at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy.
2015 How We Pick the Best Cities for Job Growth
The methodology for our 2015 ranking, which seeks to measure the robustness of metro areas’ growth both recently and over time, largely corresponds to that used in previous years, with a minor addition to mitigate the volatility that the Great Recession has introduced into the time series. It allows the rankings to include all of the metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports monthly employment data. They are derived from three-month rolling averages of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics “state and area” unadjusted employment data reported from November 2003 to January 2015.
The data reflect the North American Industry Classification System categories, including total nonfarm employment, manufacturing, financial services, business and professional services, educational and health services, information, retail and wholesale trade, transportation and utilities, leisure and hospitality, and government.
We used five measures of growth to rank MSAs over the past 10 years. “Large” areas include those with a current nonfarm employment base of at least 450,000 jobs. “Midsize” areas range from 150,000 to 450,000 jobs. “Small” areas have as many as 150,000 jobs. This year’s rankings reflect the new Office of Management and Budget definitions of MSAs for all series released after March 2015. As a result, the MSA listed in this year’s rankings do not necessary correspond directly to those listed in prior years. In some instances, MSAs were consolidated with others — for example Pascagoula, MS, was combined with the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, MSA to form the new Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS, MSA. Others were separated from previously consolidated MSAs and in still other instances individual counties were shifted from one MSA to another. The bottom line is that this year’s rankings are based on good time series for the newly defined MSAs but may not be precisely comparable to those listed in prior years. The total number of MSAs included in this year’s rankings has risen from 398 to 421. This year’s rankings reflect the current size of each MSA’s employment.
The index is calculated from a normalized, weighted summary of: 1) recent growth trend: the current and prior year’s employment growth rates, with the current year emphasized (two points); 2) mid-term growth: the average annual 2009-2014 growth rate (two points); 3) long-term momentum: the sum of the 2009-2014and 2003-2008 employment growth rates multiplied by the ratio of the 2003-2008 growth rate over the 2009-2014 growth rate (one point); 4) current year growth (one point); and 5) the average of each year’s growth rate, normalized annually, for the last 10 years (two points). This methodology corresponds exactly to that used in last year’s rankings. The goal of our methodology is to capture a snapshot of the present and prospective employment outlook in each MSA, and these revisions allow the reader to have a better sense of the employment climate in each.
All Cities Rankings – 2015 Best Cities for Job Growth
Read about how we selected the 2015 Best Cities for Job Growth
We used five measures of growth to rank MSAs over the past 10 years. “Large” areas include those with a current nonfarm employment base of at least 450,000 jobs. “Midsize” areas range from 150,000 to 450,000 jobs. “Small” areas have as many as 150,000 jobs. This year’s rankings reflect the new Office of Management and Budget definitions of MSAs for all series released after March 2015. As a result, the MSA listed in this year’s rankings do not necessary correspond directly to those listed in prior years. In some instances, MSAs were consolidated with others — for example Pascagoula, MS, was combined with the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, MSA to form the new Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS, MSA. Others were separated from previously consolidated MSAs and in still other instances individual counties were shifted from one MSA to another. The bottom line is that this year’s rankings are based on good time series for the newly defined MSAs but may not be precisely comparable to those listed in prior years. The total number of MSAs included in this year’s rankings has risen from 398 to 421. This year’s rankings reflect the current size of each MSA’s employment.
| 2015 Overall Ranking | Area | 2015 Size | 2015 Weighted INDEX | 2014 Nonfarm Emplymt (1000s) | Overall Rank Change | 2014 Overall Rank |
| 1 | Midland, TX | S | 100.0 | 98.6 | 9 | 10 |
| 2 | Greeley, CO | S | 99.8 | 101.5 | 7 | 9 |
| 3 | Odessa, TX | S | 99.7 | 81.7 | 20 | 23 |
| 4 | San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA Metro Div. | L | 97.5 | 1,034.2 | -1 | 3 |
| 5 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | L | 97.2 | 1,031.5 | -3 | 2 |
| 6 | Provo-Orem, UT | M | 97.1 | 219.7 | 1 | 7 |
| 7 | Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL | S | 96.3 | 136.2 | 8 | 15 |
| 8 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | M | 96.0 | 239.1 | 17 | 25 |
| 9 | Columbus, IN | S | 93.0 | 51.8 | 29 | 38 |
| 10 | Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metro Div. | L | 91.4 | 2,346.3 | 25 | 35 |
| 11 | Fargo, ND-MN | S | 91.2 | 140.2 | 21 | 32 |
| 12 | Austin-Round Rock, TX | L | 90.9 | 924.9 | 0 | 12 |
| 13 | Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN | L | 90.8 | 892.0 | 11 | 24 |
| 14 | Auburn-Opelika, AL | S | 90.7 | 60.7 | -3 | 11 |
| 15 | Napa, CA | S | 90.7 | 69.5 | 14 | 29 |
| 16 | Gainesville, GA | S | 90.5 | 82.0 | 64 | 80 |
| 17 | Ames, IA | S | 90.4 | 53.6 | 34 | 51 |
| 18 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | L | 90.2 | 2,973.6 | -1 | 17 |
| 19 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | L | 89.6 | 1,364.0 | 17 | 36 |
| 20 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO | M | 89.1 | 227.8 | 33 | 53 |
| 21 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | L | 88.8 | 1,135.7 | 10 | 31 |
| 22 | Merced, CA | S | 87.9 | 64.5 | 59 | 81 |
| 23 | Bend-Redmond, OR | S | 87.7 | 70.3 | 49 | 72 |
| 24 | Victoria, TX | S | 87.3 | 45.5 | 10 | 34 |
| 25 | Lake Charles, LA | S | 86.7 | 101.1 | 119 | 144 |
| 26 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | L | 86.2 | 1,085.8 | 22 | 48 |
| 27 | The Villages, FL | S | 85.9 | 26.1 | ||
| 28 | Jonesboro, AR | S | 85.9 | 54.6 | -6 | 22 |
| 29 | Elkhart-Goshen, IN | S | 85.0 | 124.5 | -25 | 4 |
| 30 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | L | 84.9 | 960.3 | 10 | 40 |
| 31 | St. George, UT | S | 84.8 | 54.6 | -23 | 8 |
| 32 | North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL | M | 84.2 | 276.7 | 64 | 96 |
| 33 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | L | 83.9 | 1,319.1 | 23 | 56 |
| 34 | Savannah, GA | M | 83.8 | 168.1 | 29 | 63 |
| 35 | Bismarck, ND | S | 83.8 | 74.0 | -34 | 1 |
| 36 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | L | 83.2 | 2,551.7 | 65 | 101 |
| 37 | Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Div. | L | 82.8 | 993.0 | 0 | 37 |
| 38 | Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metro Div. | L | 82.6 | 1,575.6 | 12 | 50 |
| 39 | Bakersfield, CA | M | 82.6 | 261.7 | 2 | 41 |
| 40 | Ogden-Clearfield, UT | M | 82.6 | 234.7 | 67 | 107 |
| 41 | Raleigh, NC | L | 82.5 | 571.5 | -28 | 13 |
| 42 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | M | 81.8 | 324.3 | 44 | 86 |
| 43 | Coeur d’Alene, ID | S | 81.7 | 58.3 | 17 | 60 |
| 44 | Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metro Div. | L | 81.5 | 1,114.8 | 15 | 59 |
| 45 | New York City, NY | L | 80.9 | 4,165.9 | -15 | 30 |
| 46 | West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL Metro Div. | L | 80.8 | 576.2 | 57 | 103 |
| 47 | Fort Collins, CO | S | 79.9 | 148.9 | -19 | 28 |
| 48 | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC | S | 79.5 | 148.3 | 13 | 61 |
| 49 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA | S | 79.5 | 111.1 | 38 | 87 |
| 50 | Salt Lake City, UT | L | 78.7 | 666.2 | -7 | 43 |
| 51 | Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Metro Div. | L | 78.2 | 796.1 | 57 | 108 |
| 52 | Winchester, VA-WV | S | 78.0 | 60.7 | 14 | 66 |
| 53 | Tuscaloosa, AL | S | 77.7 | 104.4 | 118 | 171 |
| 54 | Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN | L | 77.4 | 642.4 | 101 | 155 |
| 55 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | L | 77.0 | 1,090.5 | 15 | 70 |
| 56 | Longview, WA | S | 77.0 | 39.4 | 168 | 224 |
| 57 | Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC | M | 77.0 | 394.4 | 16 | 73 |
| 58 | Port St. Lucie, FL | S | 76.6 | 135.3 | 51 | 109 |
| 59 | Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, SC | S | 76.5 | 72.0 | ||
| 60 | San Angelo, TX | S | 76.4 | 49.3 | -41 | 19 |
| 61 | Fresno, CA | M | 76.1 | 319.2 | 16 | 77 |
| 62 | Corpus Christi, TX | M | 75.8 | 196.6 | 17 | 79 |
| 63 | Bowling Green, KY | S | 75.5 | 72.6 | -11 | 52 |
| 64 | Laredo, TX | S | 74.9 | 100.2 | -20 | 44 |
| 65 | San Rafael, CA Metro Div. | S | 74.9 | 113.0 | ||
| 66 | Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL | S | 74.8 | 66.8 | ||
| 67 | Bellingham, WA | S | 74.1 | 88.4 | 35 | 102 |
| 68 | Clarksville, TN-KY | S | 74.0 | 88.2 | 71 | 139 |
| 69 | Kansas City, KS | L | 74.0 | 458.8 | 100 | 169 |
| 70 | Longview, TX | S | 74.0 | 105.4 | 62 | 132 |
| 71 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI | L | 73.9 | 521.2 | -57 | 14 |
| 72 | Santa Rosa, CA | M | 73.7 | 193.7 | 49 | 121 |
| 73 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | M | 73.5 | 247.9 | -24 | 49 |
| 74 | Boulder, CO | M | 73.3 | 178.3 | -68 | 6 |
| 75 | Boise City, ID | M | 73.0 | 284.2 | -30 | 45 |
| 76 | Wenatchee, WA | S | 72.6 | 41.1 | 35 | 111 |
| 77 | Olympia-Tumwater, WA | S | 72.4 | 108.9 | 18 | 95 |
| 78 | Columbus, OH | L | 72.3 | 1,028.2 | -4 | 74 |
| 79 | Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN | S | 72.3 | 102.3 | 66 | 145 |
| 80 | Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, CA Metro Div. | L | 72.3 | 1,524.2 | 68 | 148 |
| 81 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | L | 71.4 | 1,900.0 | 3 | 84 |
| 82 | Modesto, CA | M | 71.4 | 163.0 | 40 | 122 |
| 83 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | M | 71.1 | 180.0 | 97 | 180 |
| 84 | San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | L | 71.1 | 1,372.3 | 43 | 127 |
| 85 | Grants Pass, OR | S | 71.0 | 24.5 | ||
| 86 | Asheville, NC | M | 70.8 | 181.4 | 8 | 94 |
| 87 | El Centro, CA | S | 70.8 | 54.9 | -69 | 18 |
| 88 | Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley, CA Metro Div. | L | 70.5 | 1,081.5 | 38 | 126 |
| 89 | Charlottesville, VA | S | 69.8 | 112.2 | 73 | 162 |
| 90 | Manchester, NH NECTA | S | 69.8 | 108.6 | 139 | 229 |
| 91 | Farmington, NM | S | 69.7 | 53.5 | 231 | 322 |
| 92 | Lexington-Fayette, KY | M | 69.6 | 268.3 | 119 | 211 |
| 93 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | L | 69.1 | 896.8 | 35 | 128 |
| 94 | Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI | S | 69.0 | 72.4 | ||
| 95 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | S | 68.9 | 95.7 | 25 | 120 |
| 96 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | M | 68.8 | 212.1 | 62 | 158 |
| 97 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | L | 68.7 | 1,006.9 | 22 | 119 |
| 98 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | L | 68.5 | 1,224.2 | 20 | 118 |
| 99 | Salinas, CA | S | 68.4 | 132.8 | 140 | 239 |
| 100 | Prescott, AZ | S | 68.1 | 60.9 | 83 | 183 |
| 101 | Logan, UT-ID | S | 67.8 | 58.3 | -36 | 65 |
| 102 | Oklahoma City, OK | L | 67.8 | 625.8 | -47 | 55 |
| 103 | Medford, OR | S | 67.5 | 82.0 | 112 | 215 |
| 104 | Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA | S | 67.4 | 48.1 | 8 | 112 |
| 105 | Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead, MA NECTA Div. | S | 67.3 | 45.2 | ||
| 106 | Baton Rouge, LA | M | 66.9 | 399.8 | -42 | 64 |
| 107 | Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, MA NECTA Div. | S | 66.8 | 80.8 | -31 | 76 |
| 108 | Spartanburg, SC | S | 66.8 | 140.6 | -87 | 21 |
| 109 | Wilmington, NC | S | 66.4 | 117.1 | -42 | 67 |
| 110 | Jacksonville, FL | L | 65.9 | 633.5 | -35 | 75 |
| 111 | New Bedford, MA NECTA | S | 65.8 | 66.3 | -20 | 91 |
| 112 | Tacoma-Lakewood, WA Metro Div. | M | 65.8 | 293.5 | 101 | 213 |
| 113 | Athens-Clarke County, GA | S | 65.3 | 93.3 | 48 | 161 |
| 114 | Chico, CA | S | 65.1 | 76.9 | -31 | 83 |
| 115 | Iowa City, IA | S | 65.0 | 99.0 | -76 | 39 |
| 116 | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL | M | 64.7 | 166.6 | 114 | 230 |
| 117 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metro Div. | L | 64.4 | 4,295.6 | 40 | 157 |
| 118 | Lawrence-Methuen Town-Salem, MA-NH NECTA Div. | S | 63.8 | 79.2 | ||
| 119 | Visalia-Porterville, CA | S | 63.5 | 116.6 | -22 | 97 |
| 120 | Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL | S | 63.4 | 48.4 | 153 | 273 |
| 121 | Tyler, TX | S | 63.2 | 100.2 | -15 | 106 |
| 122 | Danbury, CT NECTA | S | 63.2 | 79.5 | 86 | 208 |
| 123 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | M | 63.1 | 345.7 | -81 | 42 |
| 124 | Cheyenne, WY | S | 62.4 | 47.1 | -56 | 68 |
| 125 | Casper, WY | S | 62.4 | 43.2 | -1 | 124 |
| 126 | Sebring, FL | S | 62.4 | 25.8 | ||
| 127 | Dubuque, IA | S | 62.3 | 60.3 | 24 | 151 |
| 128 | Ocala, FL | S | 62.2 | 98.3 | 167 | 295 |
| 129 | Cleveland, TN | S | 62.2 | 46.0 | -82 | 47 |
| 130 | Janesville-Beloit, WI | S | 61.6 | 66.8 | 33 | 163 |
| 131 | Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury Town, MA-NH NECTA Div. | S | 61.3 | 62.8 | -85 | 46 |
| 132 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT NECTA | S | 61.0 | 124.2 | 65 | 197 |
| 133 | Kennewick-Richland, WA | S | 60.7 | 104.6 | -18 | 115 |
| 134 | Lubbock, TX | S | 60.6 | 138.6 | -108 | 26 |
| 135 | College Station-Bryan, TX | S | 60.5 | 106.1 | -119 | 16 |
| 136 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | S | 60.5 | 130.4 | 2 | 138 |
| 137 | Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY | S | 60.4 | 54.5 | 48 | 185 |
| 138 | Madison, WI | M | 60.3 | 386.9 | 5 | 143 |
| 139 | Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | M | 60.2 | 168.8 | 232 | 371 |
| 140 | Yuba City, CA | S | 59.8 | 40.5 | 55 | 195 |
| 141 | St. Cloud, MN | S | 59.6 | 107.0 | -41 | 100 |
| 142 | Houma-Thibodaux, LA | S | 59.4 | 101.6 | -109 | 33 |
| 143 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | M | 59.3 | 294.2 | -51 | 92 |
| 144 | Sioux Falls, SD | S | 59.2 | 146.5 | -82 | 62 |
| 145 | Corvallis, OR | S | 59.2 | 40.3 | 83 | 228 |
| 146 | Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA | L | 59.0 | 902.1 | 46 | 192 |
| 147 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | S | 58.9 | 138.1 | -93 | 54 |
| 148 | Gettysburg, PA | S | 58.7 | 34.9 | ||
| 149 | Pueblo, CO | S | 57.9 | 60.6 | -19 | 130 |
| 150 | Columbia, MO | S | 57.9 | 98.5 | -145 | 5 |
| 151 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Div. | L | 57.8 | 1,742.0 | -52 | 99 |
| 152 | Burlington, NC | S | 57.5 | 60.9 | 187 | 339 |
| 153 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | L | 57.4 | 1,903.7 | 15 | 168 |
| 154 | Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA | S | 57.3 | 77.0 | -38 | 116 |
| 155 | Killeen-Temple, TX | S | 57.2 | 136.2 | -84 | 71 |
| 156 | Fond du Lac, WI | S | 57.1 | 48.3 | 18 | 174 |
| 157 | Idaho Falls, ID | S | 56.8 | 60.2 | -44 | 113 |
| 158 | Madera, CA | S | 56.7 | 36.5 | -4 | 154 |
| 159 | Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metro Div. | L | 56.4 | 1,182.7 | 16 | 175 |
| 160 | Knoxville, TN | M | 56.2 | 382.8 | 60 | 220 |
| 161 | Chambersburg-Waynesboro, PA | S | 55.9 | 59.8 | ||
| 162 | Springfield, MO | M | 55.9 | 204.8 | -84 | 78 |
| 163 | Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL | S | 55.4 | 103.4 | 19 | 182 |
| 164 | Salem, OR | M | 55.3 | 151.5 | 14 | 178 |
| 165 | Redding, CA | S | 54.9 | 63.1 | 11 | 176 |
| 166 | Grand Forks, ND-MN | S | 54.8 | 58.0 | -26 | 140 |
| 167 | Macon, GA | S | 54.7 | 102.7 | 149 | 316 |
| 168 | Mankato-North Mankato, MN | S | 54.7 | 56.4 | -70 | 98 |
| 169 | Panama City, FL | S | 54.4 | 78.4 | 20 | 189 |
| 170 | Midland, MI | S | 54.3 | 37.7 | ||
| 171 | Williamsport, PA | S | 54.0 | 56.8 | 17 | 188 |
| 172 | Punta Gorda, FL | S | 53.8 | 44.6 | -87 | 85 |
| 173 | Worcester, MA-CT NECTA | M | 53.7 | 277.1 | 102 | 275 |
| 174 | Kokomo, IN | S | 53.6 | 40.7 | -84 | 90 |
| 175 | Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | M | 53.4 | 228.2 | 126 | 301 |
| 176 | Reno, NV | M | 53.4 | 204.2 | -10 | 166 |
| 177 | Ocean City, NJ | S | 53.3 | 36.6 | -95 | 82 |
| 178 | Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA | M | 53.3 | 235.4 | 58 | 236 |
| 179 | Dover-Durham, NH-ME NECTA | S | 53.2 | 52.7 | ||
| 180 | Tulsa, OK | M | 53.1 | 445.6 | -16 | 164 |
| 181 | Grand Junction, CO | S | 53.1 | 61.9 | 28 | 209 |
| 182 | Lincoln, NE | M | 52.8 | 185.7 | -78 | 104 |
| 183 | Monroe, MI | S | 52.6 | 41.8 | -60 | 123 |
| 184 | Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, MA-NH NECTA Div. | S | 52.3 | 147.6 | 62 | 246 |
| 185 | Colorado Springs, CO | M | 52.3 | 263.9 | -1 | 184 |
| 186 | Hattiesburg, MS | S | 52.0 | 62.5 | 40 | 226 |
| 187 | Flagstaff, AZ | S | 51.9 | 64.3 | -52 | 135 |
| 188 | Reading, PA | M | 51.7 | 176.7 | 99 | 287 |
| 189 | Columbia, SC | M | 51.2 | 375.8 | -8 | 181 |
| 190 | Peabody-Salem-Beverly, MA NECTA Div. | S | 51.2 | 96.2 | 31 | 221 |
| 191 | Morgantown, WV | S | 51.0 | 70.2 | -103 | 88 |
| 192 | Rapid City, SD | S | 50.9 | 65.0 | 35 | 227 |
| 193 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | M | 50.8 | 184.6 | 24 | 217 |
| 194 | Richmond, VA | L | 50.7 | 638.1 | -17 | 177 |
| 195 | Jacksonville, NC | S | 50.5 | 50.0 | -54 | 141 |
| 196 | Barnstable Town, MA NECTA | S | 50.3 | 97.6 | -79 | 117 |
| 197 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | L | 49.8 | 1,047.8 | 22 | 219 |
| 198 | Ithaca, NY | S | 49.7 | 70.6 | -69 | 129 |
| 199 | Jackson, TN | S | 49.7 | 65.6 | 0 | 199 |
| 200 | Gainesville, FL | S | 49.4 | 135.2 | 50 | 250 |
| 201 | Lewiston, ID-WA | S | 49.0 | 27.4 | 56 | 257 |
| 202 | Appleton, WI | S | 48.9 | 122.1 | 56 | 258 |
| 203 | Green Bay, WI | M | 48.4 | 173.6 | 28 | 231 |
| 204 | Lancaster, PA | M | 48.4 | 240.5 | 77 | 281 |
| 205 | Pocatello, ID | S | 48.2 | 35.2 | 71 | 276 |
| 206 | Dover, DE | S | 47.5 | 68.0 | -69 | 137 |
| 207 | Sherman-Denison, TX | S | 47.5 | 45.6 | -74 | 133 |
| 208 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | L | 47.3 | 486.6 | -35 | 173 |
| 209 | Framingham, MA NECTA Div. | M | 47.3 | 171.0 | -57 | 152 |
| 210 | Battle Creek, MI | S | 47.2 | 58.9 | -76 | 134 |
| 211 | Hammond, LA | S | 47.2 | 44.7 | ||
| 212 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | S | 47.1 | 37.6 | 58 | 270 |
| 213 | Sioux City, IA-NE-SD | S | 47.0 | 88.2 | -57 | 156 |
| 214 | Trenton, NJ | M | 46.9 | 252.9 | -100 | 114 |
| 215 | Manhattan, KS | S | 46.7 | 43.7 | 68 | 283 |
| 216 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | L | 46.7 | 566.2 | -111 | 105 |
| 217 | Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL Metro Div. | L | 46.7 | 3,597.7 | 8 | 225 |
| 218 | Eau Claire, WI | S | 46.5 | 85.3 | -48 | 170 |
| 219 | Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metro Div. | M | 46.5 | 352.1 | -9 | 210 |
| 220 | Billings, MT | S | 46.1 | 83.1 | -78 | 142 |
| 221 | Tallahassee, FL | M | 46.1 | 176.3 | 77 | 298 |
| 222 | Yakima, WA | S | 46.0 | 80.5 | -20 | 202 |
| 223 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | M | 46.0 | 295.6 | 10 | 233 |
| 224 | Sheboygan, WI | S | 45.3 | 60.9 | 54 | 278 |
| 225 | Lafayette, LA | M | 45.3 | 221.8 | -198 | 27 |
| 226 | Greenville, NC | S | 45.1 | 78.4 | -137 | 89 |
| 227 | Urban Honolulu, HI | L | 44.9 | 467.2 | -102 | 125 |
| 228 | Dalton, GA | S | 44.8 | 67.7 | 163 | 391 |
| 229 | Delaware County, PA | M | 44.7 | 232.4 | ||
| 230 | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | M | 44.6 | 205.5 | 5 | 235 |
| 231 | Portsmouth, NH-ME NECTA | S | 44.1 | 83.6 | -162 | 69 |
| 232 | Wausau, WI | S | 44.0 | 71.6 | 104 | 336 |
| 233 | El Paso, TX | M | 43.8 | 296.7 | -87 | 146 |
| 234 | Abilene, TX | S | 43.7 | 69.2 | -47 | 187 |
| 235 | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | M | 43.7 | 354.0 | 20 | 255 |
| 236 | Evansville, IN-KY | M | 43.4 | 157.9 | 60 | 296 |
| 237 | Eugene, OR | S | 43.1 | 149.7 | -15 | 222 |
| 238 | Jackson, MS | M | 42.9 | 273.3 | 71 | 309 |
| 239 | Kansas City, MO | L | 42.7 | 571.7 | 89 | 328 |
| 240 | Albany, OR | S | 42.7 | 41.1 | ||
| 241 | Springfield, MA-CT NECTA | M | 42.7 | 324.0 | 70 | 311 |
| 242 | Bremerton-Silverdale, WA | S | 41.9 | 87.1 | 72 | 314 |
| 243 | Owensboro, KY | S | 41.7 | 52.6 | -78 | 165 |
| 244 | Kankakee, IL | S | 41.6 | 45.2 | -2 | 242 |
| 245 | Huntsville, AL | M | 41.6 | 217.9 | -42 | 203 |
| 246 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Div. | L | 41.5 | 2,560.7 | -87 | 159 |
| 247 | Valdosta, GA | S | 41.3 | 55.5 | 37 | 284 |
| 248 | Philadelphia City, PA | L | 41.0 | 684.3 | 18 | 266 |
| 249 | Muskegon, MI | S | 40.9 | 63.0 | 4 | 253 |
| 250 | Gadsden, AL | S | 40.8 | 37.6 | 4 | 254 |
| 251 | Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV | S | 40.7 | 103.4 | -60 | 191 |
| 252 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | M | 40.4 | 242.1 | 36 | 288 |
| 253 | Sumter, SC | S | 40.4 | 38.9 | -81 | 172 |
| 254 | New Haven, CT NECTA | M | 39.9 | 282.4 | -47 | 207 |
| 255 | Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY Metro Div. | L | 39.9 | 1,292.3 | -61 | 194 |
| 256 | Harrisonburg, VA | S | 39.4 | 65.4 | -50 | 206 |
| 257 | Grand Island, NE | S | 38.9 | 43.0 | ||
| 258 | Lawrence, KS | S | 38.8 | 52.9 | -46 | 212 |
| 259 | Florence, SC | S | 38.4 | 85.6 | -63 | 196 |
| 260 | Walla Walla, WA | S | 38.4 | 27.1 | ||
| 261 | Lewiston-Auburn, ME NECTA | S | 38.2 | 50.6 | 4 | 265 |
| 262 | Northern Virginia, VA | L | 38.1 | 1,388.0 | -113 | 149 |
| 263 | Middlesex-Monmouth-Ocean, NJ | L | 38.1 | 845.9 | ||
| 264 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT NECTA | M | 38.0 | 409.4 | -13 | 251 |
| 265 | Elgin, IL Metro Div. | M | 37.9 | 249.9 | ||
| 266 | Amarillo, TX | S | 37.9 | 117.4 | -52 | 214 |
| 267 | Rome, GA | S | 37.6 | 40.4 | 62 | 329 |
| 268 | Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Metro Div. | M | 37.6 | 399.2 | -108 | 160 |
| 269 | Flint, MI | S | 37.4 | 142.3 | 79 | 348 |
| 270 | Leominster-Gardner, MA NECTA | S | 37.3 | 50.4 | 50 | 320 |
| 271 | Springfield, OH | S | 37.2 | 52.3 | -135 | 136 |
| 272 | Rockford, IL | M | 37.1 | 150.9 | 88 | 360 |
| 273 | Anchorage, AK | M | 37.1 | 177.7 | -87 | 186 |
| 274 | Greensboro-High Point, NC | M | 37.0 | 354.7 | 31 | 305 |
| 275 | Fort Wayne, IN | M | 36.7 | 212.9 | -77 | 198 |
| 276 | Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA | M | 36.7 | 262.5 | 89 | 365 |
| 277 | Ann Arbor, MI | M | 36.6 | 211.3 | -124 | 153 |
| 278 | Missoula, MT | S | 36.3 | 57.6 | -168 | 110 |
| 279 | Winston-Salem, NC | M | 36.0 | 255.2 | -38 | 241 |
| 280 | Hot Springs, AR | S | 35.8 | 38.0 | 14 | 294 |
| 281 | Bloomsburg-Berwick, PA | S | 35.7 | 43.2 | ||
| 282 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA | L | 35.7 | 571.3 | -26 | 256 |
| 283 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | L | 35.7 | 457.2 | 20 | 303 |
| 284 | Morristown, TN | S | 35.5 | 44.2 | -13 | 271 |
| 285 | Lebanon, PA | S | 35.4 | 51.4 | -138 | 147 |
| 286 | Brunswick, GA | S | 35.1 | 41.7 | 91 | 377 |
| 287 | Rochester, MN | S | 34.2 | 114.9 | -97 | 190 |
| 288 | Waco, TX | S | 33.9 | 112.4 | -50 | 238 |
| 289 | Canton-Massillon, OH | M | 33.9 | 172.2 | -55 | 234 |
| 290 | Hinesville, GA | S | 33.6 | 19.9 | -47 | 243 |
| 291 | St. Joseph, MO-KS | S | 33.2 | 62.9 | -124 | 167 |
| 292 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | L | 33.1 | 845.7 | -3 | 289 |
| 293 | Oshkosh-Neenah, WI | S | 32.9 | 95.1 | -88 | 205 |
| 294 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | S | 32.4 | 92.7 | -57 | 237 |
| 295 | Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA | S | 32.3 | 122.2 | 35 | 330 |
| 296 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | L | 32.2 | 516.4 | -32 | 264 |
| 297 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA | L | 32.1 | 568.7 | 0 | 297 |
| 298 | Gary, IN Metro Div. | M | 32.1 | 276.5 | 8 | 306 |
| 299 | Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL | S | 31.9 | 56.4 | -59 | 240 |
| 300 | Jackson, MI | S | 31.9 | 55.9 | 41 | 341 |
| 301 | Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA | M | 31.9 | 330.1 | -78 | 223 |
| 302 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | M | 31.7 | 199.8 | 67 | 369 |
| 303 | La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN | S | 31.6 | 77.2 | -172 | 131 |
| 304 | Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County, PA Metro Div. | L | 31.5 | 1,024.8 | ||
| 305 | State College, PA | S | 31.4 | 77.3 | -89 | 216 |
| 306 | Joplin, MO | S | 31.2 | 81.6 | -127 | 179 |
| 307 | Columbus, GA-AL | S | 31.2 | 123.2 | -55 | 252 |
| 308 | New Bern, NC | S | 31.0 | 44.1 | ||
| 309 | Roanoke, VA | M | 30.9 | 161.4 | -1 | 308 |
| 310 | Duluth, MN-WI | S | 30.9 | 134.0 | -110 | 200 |
| 311 | Pittsburgh, PA | L | 30.7 | 1,164.6 | -29 | 282 |
| 312 | South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI | S | 30.4 | 137.6 | 38 | 350 |
| 313 | Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI Metro Div. | L | 30.2 | 734.4 | 54 | 367 |
| 314 | California-Lexington Park, MD | S | 30.1 | 44.3 | ||
| 315 | Alexandria, LA | S | 30.1 | 64.3 | 32 | 347 |
| 316 | Akron, OH | M | 30.1 | 332.2 | -72 | 244 |
| 317 | Las Cruces, NM | S | 30.1 | 71.1 | -124 | 193 |
| 318 | Kalamazoo-Portage, MI | S | 29.9 | 141.0 | 58 | 376 |
| 319 | Orange-Rockland-Westchester, NY | L | 29.9 | 688.8 | ||
| 320 | Saginaw, MI | S | 29.6 | 88.7 | -53 | 267 |
| 321 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | L | 29.5 | 622.5 | 19 | 340 |
| 322 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | M | 29.3 | 347.8 | -62 | 260 |
| 323 | Portland-South Portland, ME NECTA | M | 29.2 | 193.8 | -49 | 274 |
| 324 | Waterbury, CT NECTA | S | 29.0 | 68.4 | -62 | 262 |
| 325 | Erie, PA | S | 29.0 | 130.6 | 0 | 325 |
| 326 | Taunton-Middleborough-Norton, MA NECTA Div. | S | 28.5 | 58.7 | ||
| 327 | Topeka, KS | S | 28.3 | 111.6 | -36 | 291 |
| 328 | Lansing-East Lansing, MI | M | 28.3 | 225.6 | -127 | 201 |
| 329 | Johnson City, TN | S | 28.2 | 78.6 | 34 | 363 |
| 330 | Calvert-Charles-Prince George’s, MD | M | 28.2 | 387.7 | -67 | 263 |
| 331 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY | L | 27.9 | 556.7 | -32 | 299 |
| 332 | Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ | S | 27.8 | 46.6 | 17 | 349 |
| 333 | Rochester, NY | L | 27.4 | 527.8 | -26 | 307 |
| 334 | York-Hanover, PA | M | 27.2 | 180.1 | -2 | 332 |
| 335 | Baltimore City, MD | M | 27.2 | 365.1 | -18 | 317 |
| 336 | Bloomington, IN | S | 27.1 | 77.0 | -77 | 259 |
| 337 | Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD Metro Div. | L | 26.9 | 576.2 | -76 | 261 |
| 338 | Salisbury, MD-DE | S | 25.7 | 142.3 | 0 | 338 |
| 339 | Kingston, NY | S | 25.7 | 60.9 | -20 | 319 |
| 340 | Cedar Rapids, IA | S | 25.2 | 140.5 | -60 | 280 |
| 341 | Pittsfield, MA NECTA | S | 25.1 | 41.4 | 1 | 342 |
| 342 | Wheeling, WV-OH | S | 25.0 | 69.1 | -138 | 204 |
| 343 | Warner Robins, GA | S | 24.9 | 70.5 | -71 | 272 |
| 344 | Niles-Benton Harbor, MI | S | 24.7 | 60.2 | -40 | 304 |
| 345 | Dayton, OH | M | 24.6 | 374.5 | 33 | 378 |
| 346 | Tucson, AZ | M | 24.5 | 370.8 | -46 | 300 |
| 347 | Wichita, KS | M | 24.4 | 294.5 | -45 | 302 |
| 348 | St. Louis, MO-IL | L | 24.1 | 1,314.3 | -27 | 321 |
| 349 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | L | 24.0 | 1,038.2 | -15 | 334 |
| 350 | Montgomery, AL | M | 23.9 | 170.3 | -58 | 292 |
| 351 | Toledo, OH | M | 23.8 | 298.3 | -72 | 279 |
| 352 | Albuquerque, NM | M | 23.3 | 380.3 | 14 | 366 |
| 353 | Bangor, ME NECTA | S | 23.3 | 66.4 | -85 | 268 |
| 354 | Nashua, NH-MA NECTA Div. | S | 22.8 | 125.4 | -64 | 290 |
| 355 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | L | 22.7 | 753.9 | -43 | 312 |
| 356 | Fort Smith, AR-OK | S | 22.6 | 113.4 | -2 | 354 |
| 357 | Champaign-Urbana, IL | S | 22.6 | 108.7 | -13 | 344 |
| 358 | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC | S | 22.6 | 147.2 | -12 | 346 |
| 359 | Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ | L | 22.5 | 895.1 | -73 | 286 |
| 360 | Mansfield, OH | S | 22.4 | 52.9 | 23 | 383 |
| 361 | Santa Fe, NM | S | 21.8 | 61.8 | -43 | 318 |
| 362 | Newark, NJ-PA Metro Div. | L | 21.7 | 1,188.1 | -35 | 327 |
| 363 | Danville, IL | S | 21.6 | 29.3 | 33 | 396 |
| 364 | Glens Falls, NY | S | 21.5 | 53.6 | -2 | 362 |
| 365 | Cape Girardeau, MO-IL | S | 21.4 | 44.7 | -72 | 293 |
| 366 | Altoona, PA | S | 21.1 | 61.1 | -29 | 337 |
| 367 | Parkersburg-Vienna, WV | S | 21.1 | 43.2 | 7 | 374 |
| 368 | Springfield, IL | S | 20.8 | 111.4 | -37 | 331 |
| 369 | Racine, WI | S | 20.6 | 76.0 | -13 | 356 |
| 370 | Bay City, MI | S | 20.6 | 37.4 | -57 | 313 |
| 371 | Great Falls, MT | S | 20.4 | 35.5 | -221 | 150 |
| 372 | Watertown-Fort Drum, NY | S | 20.4 | 41.6 | ||
| 373 | Peoria, IL | M | 20.1 | 178.0 | -18 | 355 |
| 374 | Yuma, AZ | S | 20.0 | 52.7 | -59 | 315 |
| 375 | Lynchburg, VA | S | 19.8 | 103.7 | -7 | 368 |
| 376 | Fayetteville, NC | S | 19.8 | 128.6 | -99 | 277 |
| 377 | Cumberland, MD-WV | S | 19.5 | 39.9 | -67 | 310 |
| 378 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | M | 19.3 | 183.0 | -27 | 351 |
| 379 | Mobile, AL | M | 19.3 | 174.8 | -15 | 364 |
| 380 | Staunton-Waynesboro, VA | S | 18.4 | 48.6 | ||
| 381 | Monroe, LA | S | 18.3 | 78.3 | -136 | 245 |
| 382 | Lawton, OK | S | 18.0 | 45.4 | -134 | 248 |
| 383 | Syracuse, NY | M | 17.8 | 318.1 | -40 | 343 |
| 384 | Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA | M | 17.8 | 226.2 | -39 | 345 |
| 385 | Fairbanks, AK | S | 17.7 | 37.5 | -153 | 232 |
| 386 | Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH | S | 17.0 | 141.5 | -29 | 357 |
| 387 | Elmira, NY | S | 16.4 | 39.6 | -2 | 385 |
| 388 | Muncie, IN | S | 16.3 | 51.0 | -65 | 323 |
| 389 | Beckley, WV | S | 16.1 | 47.3 | ||
| 390 | Dothan, AL | S | 16.1 | 57.3 | -17 | 373 |
| 391 | Dutchess County-Putnam County, NY Metro Div. | S | 15.6 | 142.4 | ||
| 392 | Carson City, NV | S | 15.6 | 27.9 | 1 | 393 |
| 393 | Camden, NJ Metro Div. | L | 15.5 | 515.3 | -14 | 379 |
| 394 | Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS | M | 15.5 | 152.0 | -147 | 247 |
| 395 | Lima, OH | S | 15.3 | 52.6 | -71 | 324 |
| 396 | Albany, GA | S | 15.2 | 61.6 | -37 | 359 |
| 397 | Shreveport-Bossier City, LA | M | 15.1 | 183.5 | -44 | 353 |
| 398 | Homosassa Springs, FL | S | 14.9 | 32.5 | ||
| 399 | Goldsboro, NC | S | 14.4 | 42.6 | -114 | 285 |
| 400 | Texarkana, TX-AR | S | 13.9 | 59.1 | -28 | 372 |
| 401 | Wichita Falls, TX | S | 13.7 | 58.5 | -15 | 386 |
| 402 | Decatur, AL | S | 13.0 | 53.8 | -50 | 352 |
| 403 | Jefferson City, MO | S | 12.0 | 76.1 | -42 | 361 |
| 404 | Utica-Rome, NY | S | 11.9 | 127.8 | -34 | 370 |
| 405 | Terre Haute, IN | S | 11.7 | 70.8 | -47 | 358 |
| 406 | Bloomington, IL | S | 11.2 | 94.4 | -22 | 384 |
| 407 | Charleston, WV | S | 10.5 | 123.3 | -20 | 387 |
| 408 | Johnstown, PA | S | 10.0 | 57.8 | -27 | 381 |
| 409 | Carbondale-Marion, IL | S | 9.8 | 54.4 | ||
| 410 | Decatur, IL | S | 9.7 | 50.8 | -20 | 390 |
| 411 | Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ | S | 9.4 | 34.7 | ||
| 412 | Michigan City-La Porte, IN | S | 9.4 | 41.9 | -15 | 397 |
| 413 | East Stroudsburg, PA | S | 9.4 | 55.4 | ||
| 414 | Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI NECTA | S | 9.2 | 127.5 | -25 | 389 |
| 415 | Binghamton, NY | S | 8.8 | 105.7 | -21 | 394 |
| 416 | Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville, AL | S | 8.6 | 46.3 | -28 | 388 |
| 417 | Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH | S | 6.9 | 42.9 | -37 | 380 |
| 418 | Rocky Mount, NC | S | 6.3 | 57.7 | -26 | 392 |
| 419 | Pine Bluff, AR | S | 3.7 | 33.9 | -21 | 398 |
| 420 | Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | S | 3.6 | 130.6 | -25 | 395 |
| 421 | Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ | S | 3.6 | 56.6 | -39 | 382 |
Large Cities Rankings – 2015 Best Cities for Job Growth
Read about how we selected the 2015 Best Cities for Job Growth
We used five measures of growth to rank MSAs over the past 10 years. “Large” areas include those with a current nonfarm employment base of at least 450,000 jobs. “Midsize” areas range from 150,000 to 450,000 jobs. “Small” areas have as many as 150,000 jobs. This year’s rankings reflect the new Office of Management and Budget definitions of MSAs for all series released after March 2015. As a result, the MSA listed in this year’s rankings do not necessary correspond directly to those listed in prior years. In some instances, MSAs were consolidated with others — for example Pascagoula, MS, was combined with the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, MSA to form the new Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS, MSA. Others were separated from previously consolidated MSAs and in still other instances individual counties were shifted from one MSA to another. The bottom line is that this year’s rankings are based on good time series for the newly defined MSAs but may not be precisely comparable to those listed in prior years. The total number of MSAs included in this year’s rankings has risen from 398 to 421. This year’s rankings reflect the current size of each MSA’s employment.
| 2015 Rank Among Small Cities | Area | 2015 Weighted INDEX | 2014 Nonfarm Emplymt (1000s) | Rank Change | 2014 Size Ranking |
| 1 | San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA Metro Div. | 97.5 | 1,034.2 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 97.2 | 1,031.5 | -1 | 1 |
| 3 | Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metro Div. | 91.4 | 2,346.3 | 6 | 9 |
| 4 | Austin-Round Rock, TX | 90.9 | 924.9 | -1 | 3 |
| 5 | Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN | 90.8 | 892.0 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 90.2 | 2,973.6 | -1 | 5 |
| 7 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | 89.6 | 1,364.0 | 3 | 10 |
| 8 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 88.8 | 1,135.7 | 0 | 8 |
| 9 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 86.2 | 1,085.8 | 5 | 14 |
| 10 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 84.9 | 960.3 | 2 | 12 |
| 11 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 83.9 | 1,319.1 | 6 | 17 |
| 12 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 83.2 | 2,551.7 | 12 | 24 |
| 13 | Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Div. | 82.8 | 993.0 | -2 | 11 |
| 14 | Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metro Div. | 82.6 | 1,575.6 | 1 | 15 |
| 15 | Raleigh, NC | 82.5 | 571.5 | -11 | 4 |
| 16 | Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metro Div. | 81.5 | 1,114.8 | 2 | 18 |
| 17 | New York City, NY | 80.9 | 4,165.9 | -10 | 7 |
| 18 | West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL Metro Div. | 80.8 | 576.2 | 7 | 25 |
| 19 | Salt Lake City, UT | 78.7 | 666.2 | -6 | 13 |
| 20 | Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Metro Div. | 78.2 | 796.1 | 7 | 27 |
| 21 | Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN | 77.4 | 642.4 | 15 | 36 |
| 22 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 77.0 | 1,090.5 | -3 | 19 |
| 23 | Kansas City, KS | 74.0 | 458.8 | 16 | 39 |
| 24 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI | 73.9 | 521.2 | -21 | 3 |
| 25 | Columbus, OH | 72.3 | 1,028.2 | -5 | 20 |
| 26 | Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, CA Metro Div. | 72.3 | 1,524.2 | 8 | 34 |
| 27 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 71.4 | 1,900.0 | -5 | 22 |
| 28 | San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | 71.1 | 1,372.3 | 4 | 32 |
| 29 | Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley, CA Metro Div. | 70.5 | 1,081.5 | 2 | 31 |
| 30 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 69.1 | 896.8 | 3 | 33 |
| 31 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | 68.7 | 1,006.9 | -2 | 29 |
| 32 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 68.5 | 1,224.2 | -4 | 28 |
| 33 | Oklahoma City, OK | 67.8 | 625.8 | -17 | 16 |
| 34 | Jacksonville, FL | 65.9 | 633.5 | -13 | 21 |
| 35 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metro Div. | 64.4 | 4,295.6 | 2 | 37 |
| 36 | Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA | 59.0 | 902.1 | 7 | 43 |
| 37 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Div. | 57.8 | 1,742.0 | -14 | 23 |
| 38 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 57.4 | 1,903.7 | 1 | 39 |
| 39 | Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metro Div. | 56.4 | 1,182.7 | 2 | 41 |
| 40 | Richmond, VA | 50.7 | 638.1 | 2 | 42 |
| 41 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 49.8 | 1,047.8 | 5 | 46 |
| 42 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | 47.3 | 486.6 | -2 | 40 |
| 43 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | 46.7 | 566.2 | -17 | 26 |
| 44 | Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL Metro Div. | 46.7 | 3,597.7 | 3 | 47 |
| 45 | Urban Honolulu, HI | 44.9 | 467.2 | -15 | 30 |
| 46 | Kansas City, MO | 42.7 | 571.7 | 15 | 61 |
| 47 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Div. | 41.5 | 2,560.7 | -9 | 38 |
| 48 | Philadelphia City, PA | 41.0 | 684.3 | 3 | 51 |
| 49 | Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY Metro Div. | 39.9 | 1,292.3 | -5 | 44 |
| 50 | Northern Virginia, VA | 38.1 | 1,388.0 | -15 | 35 |
| 51 | Middlesex-Monmouth-Ocean, NJ | 38.1 | 845.9 | ||
| 52 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA | 35.7 | 571.3 | -4 | 48 |
| 53 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | 35.7 | 457.2 | 4 | 57 |
| 54 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 33.1 | 845.7 | 0 | 54 |
| 55 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 32.2 | 516.4 | -5 | 50 |
| 56 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA | 32.1 | 568.7 | -1 | 55 |
| 57 | Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County, PA Metro Div. | 31.5 | 1,024.8 | ||
| 58 | Pittsburgh, PA | 30.7 | 1,164.6 | -6 | 52 |
| 59 | Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI Metro Div. | 30.2 | 734.4 | 6 | 65 |
| 60 | Orange-Rockland-Westchester, NY | 29.9 | 688.8 | ||
| 61 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 29.5 | 622.5 | 3 | 64 |
| 62 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY | 27.9 | 556.7 | -6 | 56 |
| 63 | Rochester, NY | 27.4 | 527.8 | -6 | 57 |
| 64 | Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD Metro Div. | 26.9 | 576.2 | -15 | 49 |
| 65 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 24.1 | 1,314.3 | -6 | 59 |
| 66 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | 24.0 | 1,038.2 | -4 | 62 |
| 67 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 22.7 | 753.9 | -9 | 58 |
| 68 | Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ | 22.5 | 895.1 | -15 | 53 |
| 69 | Newark, NJ-PA Metro Div. | 21.7 | 1,188.1 | -9 | 60 |
| 70 | Camden, NJ Metro Div. | 15.5 | 515.3 | -4 | 66 |