Large Cities Ranking - 2009 New Geography Best Cities for Job Growth

Read how we pick the best cities.

2009 Size Rank	Area	2009 Weighted INDEX	2008 Nonfarm Emplymt (1000s)	Size 2009	Size Movement	Overall Rank 2009
1	Austin-Round Rock, TX	87.7	778.5	L	1	6
2	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX	85.4	2,609.6	L	2	9
3	San Antonio, TX	82.0	849.8	L	4	20
4	Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Division	78.3	877.5	L	5	30
5	Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metropolitan Division	78.0	2,102.1	L	7	32
6	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division	77.2	1,457.8	L	4	34
7	Salt Lake City, UT	76.5	640.2	L	-4	36
8	Raleigh-Cary, NC	74.6	513.5	L	-7	38
9	Oklahoma City, OK	72.9	576.8	L	21	44
10	Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA	70.0	1,020.8	L	1	55
11	Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA	66.8	468.2	L	21	72
12	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division	66.6	2,424.3	L	9	76
13	Northern Virginia, VA	65.0	1,305.5	L	4	84
14	New York City, NY	62.3	3,760.2	L	8	95
15	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO	58.5	1,228.0	L	5	113
16	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA NECTA Division	56.1	1,696.4	L	21	118
17	Putnam-Rockland-Westchester, NY	55.7	579.9	L	14	121
18	Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC	55.5	841.5	L	-13	125
19	Honolulu, HI	54.0	451.5	L	-4	132
20	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	53.6	902.9	L	13	134
21	Rochester, NY	53.2	518.1	L	40	137
22	Las Vegas-Paradise, NV	52.5	894.9	L	-14	142
23	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division	51.6	982.3	L	6	144
24	Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, MD Metropolitan Division	51.5	573.0	L	27	145
25	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	50.1	748.6	L	-7	153
26	Orlando-Kissimmee, FL	49.8	1,056.8	L	-20	154
27	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	48.5	760.9	L	8	160
28	Kansas City, MO	48.3	564.1	L	8	164
29	Pittsburgh, PA	47.6	1,138.9	L	24	169
30	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY	47.1	548.3	L	30	174
31	Philadelphia City, PA	46.6	661.4	L	31	176
32	Columbus, OH	46.4	933.5	L	7	178
33	St. Louis, MO-IL	46.3	1,341.9	L	19	179
34	Nassau-Suffolk, NY Metropolitan Division	46.2	1,255.5	L	8	180
35	Indianapolis-Carmel, IN	44.3	898.5	L	-12	197
36	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA	44.2	552.7	L	4	199
37	Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN	42.7	611.0	L	-11	204
38	Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN	42.5	1,028.6	L	12	207
39	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA	42.4	1,283.4	L	7	208
40	Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division	41.6	1,039.3	L	-12	216
41	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA	41.6	2,374.1	L	-25	217
42	Richmond, VA	41.6	616.9	L	-17	218
43	Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	41.4	1,813.1	L	-29	223
44	Jacksonville, FL	40.9	609.9	L	-25	227
45	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA	39.5	528.9	L	-32	234
46	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	39.2	628.4	L	-8	237
47	Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division	38.5	1,024.2	L	10	241
48	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	38.3	1,754.4	L	0	242
49	Birmingham-Hoover, AL	37.9	518.7	L	-5	244
50	Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Metropolitan Division	37.2	759.8	L	-23	253
51	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	37.0	837.3	L	3	254
52	Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL Metropolitan Division	37.0	3,778.8	L	-3	255
53	Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ	36.5	897.2	L	5	258
54	Edison-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division	34.4	1,010.1	L	-7	269
55	Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division	32.9	526.7	L	-10	277
56	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division	32.6	4,008.1	L	0	279
57	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	31.5	1,189.6	L	-33	283
58	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	31.2	1,206.6	L	-15	285
59	Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division	29.4	1,093.9	L	6	294
60	Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA	28.8	863.2	L	-26	297
61	West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL Metropolitan Division	28.2	539.4	L	-20	301
62	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division	27.1	1,011.6	L	-3	304
63	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division	26.2	1,453.0	L	-8	306
64	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH	24.4	1,033.7	L	0	309
65	Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA	21.7	557.5	L	-2	318
66	Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Division	8.9	739.7	L	0	335