Forbes has released the results of its annual ranking of the best big cities for jobs. Topping the list for 2015 are the metro areas of San Francisco, San Jose, Dallas, Austin, Nashville, Houston, Denver, Orlando, Charlotte and San Antonio.
Job creation momentum is the strongest in tech-oriented metropolises and Sun Belt cities with lower costs, particularly the still robust economies of Texas.
The 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.
Venture capital and private-equity firms keep pouring money into U.S. technology companies, lured by the promise of huge IPO returns. 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. San Jose which, like San Francisco, was devastated in the tech crash a decade ago, has also rebounded smartly.
Other metro areas have something Silicon Valley lacks: affordable housing. Most of the rest of the 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.
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, Dallas and Charlotte, 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 the list, has particularly bright prospects, due not only to its growing tech and manufacturing economy, but also its strong health care sector.
