Best Cities 2012

Seattle Is Leading An American Manufacturing Revival - Top Manufacturing Growth Regions

Joel Kotkin — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:13:06 -0400

In this still tepid recovery, the biggest feel-good story has been the resurgence of American manufacturing. As industrial production has fallen in Europe and growth has slowed in China, U.S. factories have continued an expansion that has stretched on for over 33 months. In April, manufacturing growth was the strongest in 10 months.

There are a number of reasons for this revival. Rising wages in China – up from roughly one-third U.S. levels to half that in a decade — and problems associated with protection of trademarks and other issues have led many U.S. executives to look back home. Some 22% of U.S. product manufacturers surveyed by MFGWatch reported moving some production back to America in the fourth quarter of 2011, and one in three said they were studying the proposition.

Certainly how long this expansion can last is an open question, particularly given weakness in Europe and the slowdown in formerly fast-growing developing countries. But one thing is clear: the industrial resurgence is reshaping the economic and employment map in often unexpected ways.

Now rather than being pulled down by manufacturing, our Best Cities For Jobs survey, conducted by Pepperdine University’s Michael Shires, found that many industrial regions are benefiting from their prowess.

From 2010 through March, manufacturers added 470,000 jobs and enjoyed a rate of job growth 10% faster than the rest of the private economy. In the past many areas suffered from having too many industrial workers. Now it looks like we will have too few skilled ones, even in hard-hit sectors like the auto industry. In 2011 there were 50,000 unfilled U.S. job openings in industrial engineering, welding, and computer-controlled machine tool operating, according to the forecasting firm EMSI. If the revival continues, this shortage could worsen.

To determine the cities that are leading the manufacturing revival, we assessed manufacturing employment growth in the 65 largest metropolitan statistical areas. Rankings are based on recent growth trends, as well as job growth over the past five and 10 years, and the MSAs’ momentum (see the bottom of this piece for the full rankings list).

Where Technology Meets Manufacturing

In an era of excitement over the Internet, it is often forgotten that a majority of the country’s scientists and engineers work for manufacturers, and that industrial companies account for 68% of business R&D spending, which in turn accounts for about 70% of total R&D spending.

Nowhere is this linkage between technology and industry more evident than in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area, which ranks first on our list of the metropolitan areas leading the manufacturing revival. Over the past year the region was No. 2 in the nation in manufacturing growth, with employment expanding 7.9%. The aerospace sector, led by Boeing, accounted for roughly half this expansion.

The growth in aerospace and high-tech employment creates precisely the kinds of high-wage jobs, including for blue-collar workers, that are lacking in many parts of the country. In 2010 the average factory wage in the area was $64,925, up 9% from 2007. Most critically, manufacturing activity drives growth in other sectors of the economy. About one in six of all private-sector jobs depend on the manufacturing sector, and every dollar of sales of manufactured products generates $1.40 in output from other sectors, the highest of any industry.

As manufacturing employment overall has dropped, the percentage of higher-wage, skilled industrial jobs has been climbing over the last decades, particularly in high-technology related fields Overall, according to EMSI data, the average American factory worker earned $73,000 in 2011, $20,000 more than the average job.

Seattle is not alone in creating high-tech-oriented industrial jobs. Over the past two years Salt Lake City, Utah, which ranks third on our list, has seen significant growth in both electronics and aerospace employment, including a new Northrop Grumman facility. Firms connected to the medical device industry such as Biomerics are also expanding in the area.

Manufacturing is also rebounding in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas, which ranks eighth on our list and No. 1 on our overall list of Best Big Cities For Jobs. Last year industrial employment in the Texas state capital area jumped 5%. Semiconductor firms are a big force, employing over 10,000 workers. Although more known for its high-tech electronics, Austin has also enjoyed an expansion in automobile-related employment as well as medical devices.

Energy Capitals

The largest grouping of manufacturing stars have emerged from the Texas-Oklahoma energy belt. With the shale drilling boom unlocking ample supplies of natural gas and lowering prices, petrochemical companies have undertaken major expansions. The rise in drilling and exploration has also sparked greater demand for industrial products such as pipes, drill rigs and other machinery. No surprise that the biggest backers of shale gas exploration are prominent CEOs of industrial firms. A recent study by PwC suggests that shale gas could lead to the development of 1 million industrial jobs.

The shale drilling revolution is making an impact across the country, in places like North Dakota and Youngstown, Ohio, but the epicenter of this boom remains firmly in the oil patch. The Thunder you hear in Oklahoma City is not just on the basketball court — energy growth has propelled a 1,500 person jump in manufacturing employment, a 6.1% increase, with another 1,000 new jobs expected this year. Oklahoma City ranks second on our list.

Other energy capitals are also thriving on the industrial front, including Houston (fourth place), San Antonio (seventh) and Ft. Worth-Arlington (ninth). Although energy is the main driver, manufacturing has been on the rise in a broad array of areas, including aerospace, biomedical and food processing. The surging export economy — Texas is easily the nation’s number one exporter — has further bolstered this growth.

Rustbelt Rebounders

The high-tech and energy economies may be fast-breaking in terms of industrial growth, but manufacturing’s comeback has put some new bounce in the step of many long forlorn parts of the nation’s “rustbelt.” Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., epitomizes this trend. Unlike Detroit, which has suffered mass disinvestment, this more suburban area a half hour drive away has become the epicenter of a new, more tech-oriented auto industry.

The Warren-Troy area’s rich concentration of skilled tradespeople and industrial engineers has been described as America’s “automation alley.” It continues to attract high-industrial firms from abroad such as Brose, a German car parts manufacturer, which has recently announced a $60 million investment in the area. Even housing is on the rebound, with rents rising at the fourth highest clip in the country, just behind such standouts as San Francisco and Miami.

Nor is the Midwest manufacturing rebound limited to Michigan. Over the past year sixth-ranked Cincinnati enjoyed 5.4% growth in industrial employment. Manufacturing growth was also strong in Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisc., a center for the production of machine tools and other precision equipment that ranks 10th on our list.

Who’s Falling Behind

Of course not all regions have benefited from the industrial resurgence. For example, the nation’s largest industrial area, Los Angeles, ranks a miserable 49th. The area lost some 20% of its industrial jobs since 2006, and the losses continued over the past year. This goes a long way to explain the area’s continued underperformance before, during and, now, in the early days of recovery from the financial crisis.

Some other large regions did even worse, including such one-time industrial powerhouses as Philadelphia (55th) and New York (59th). Some may argue that these, and other areas, which have been losing manufacturing jobs for decades, no longer need to engage in the messy business of making stuff. But that long fashionable way thinking may be outdated itself, as seen by the improving fortunes of our industrial top 10.

Top Large Regions for Manufacturing Growth

Rank	Area	2012 Weighted INDEX	2011 Manuf. Employment (000s)
1	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division	81.2	164.3
2	Oklahoma City, OK	74.8	33.6
3	Salt Lake City, UT	74.7	55.1
4	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX	74.6	229.8
5	Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division	74.4	135.3
6	Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN	71.7	109.3
7	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	70.3	46.3
8	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	69.3	50.9
9	Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Division	68.3	89.1
10	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	67.9	118.5
11	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	67.3	157.9
12	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY	65.8	52.3
13	Kansas City, MO	65.2	40.5
14	Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA	64.7	31.8
15	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	63.5	178.7
16	Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Metro. Division	63.1	27.1
17	Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ	62.8	63.3
18	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH	61.7	121.2
19	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	61.1	110.0
20	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division	60.0	154.9
21	Columbus, OH	58.0	65.2
22	Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC	57.4	67.9
23	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA NECTA Division	56.9	94.6
24	Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Division	55.8	72.9
25	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA	55.2	147.9
26	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL Metropolitan Division	54.4	322.4
27	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA	54.1	57.0
28	Pittsburgh, PA	53.3	87.8
29	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA	52.8	92.0
30	Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metropolitan Division	52.8	167.4
31	St. Louis, MO-IL	52.8	111.4
32	Rochester, NY	51.7	61.1
33	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	51.3	52.0
34	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO	51.0	61.2
35	Nassau-Suffolk, NY Metropolitan Division	50.4	72.8
36	Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA	48.8	51.8
37	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division	47.4	36.8
38	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA	45.8	31.3
39	Northern Virginia, VA	43.7	23.0
40	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	43.4	37.8
41	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	43.3	60.0
42	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	42.9	44.3
43	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ	42.9	112.3
44	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division	42.3	78.2
45	Raleigh-Cary, NC	41.5	27.3
46	Birmingham-Hoover, AL	39.7	35.2
47	Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN	38.8	63.5
48	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	38.3	62.8
49	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division	38.2	359.7
50	Indianapolis-Carmel, IN	37.9	80.8
51	Las Vegas-Paradise, NV	37.1	19.7
52	Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division	35.2	68.8
53	Jacksonville, FL	34.5	26.7
54	Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division	34.1	16.1
55	Philadelphia City, PA	33.3	23.1
56	West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL Metropolitan Division	32.4	15.0
57	Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA	31.9	32.5
58	New York City, NY	30.9	73.3
59	Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division	28.9	35.4
60	Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division	27.5	36.2
61	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro. Division	27.1	33.6
62	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	25.5	86.6
63	Putnam-Rockland-Westchester, NY	24.8	24.6
64	Edison-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division	24.3	58.2
65	Richmond, VA	18.7	30.9

The index is calculated using the same methodology as our Best Cities for Job Growth, but using only manufacturing employment in each region.

Joel Kotkin is executive editor of NewGeography.com and is a distinguished presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University, and contributing editor to the City Journal in New York. He is author of The City: A Global History. His newest book is The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050, released in February, 2010.

Seattle waterfront photo by BigStockPhoto.com.

Small Cities Are Becoming a New Engine Of Economic Growth

Joel Kotkin — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:57:19 -0400

The conventional wisdom is that the world’s largest cities are going to be the primary drivers of economic growth and innovation. Even slums, according to a fawning article in National Geographic, represent “examples of urban vitality, not blight.” In America, it is commonly maintained by pundits that “megaregions” anchored by dense urban cores will dominate the future.

Such conceits are, not surprisingly, popular among big city developers and the media in places like New York, which command the national debate by blaring the biggest horn. However, a less fevered analysis of recent trends suggests a very different reality: When it comes to growth, economic and demographic, opportunity increasingly is to be found in smaller, and often remote, places.

Read about how we selected the 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

This year’s edition of Forbes’ Best Cities For Jobs survey, compiled with Pepperdine University’s Michael Shires, found that small and midsized metropolitan areas, with populations of 1 million or less, accounted for 27 of the 30 urban regions in the country that are adding jobs at the fastest rate. The three largest metropolitan statistical areas that made the top 30 — Austin, Houston and Salt Lake City — are themselves highly dispersed with sprawling employment sheds.

Rather than the products of “smart growth” and intense densification, almost all of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas — including larger ones like Silicon Valley and Raleigh — tend to be dominated by suburban-style, single-family homes and utterly dependent on the greatest scourge of the urbanist creed: the private car. But many of the smaller areas also punch above their weight in myriad ways, spanning a host of industries.

Among the 398 MSAs we ranked for the list, energy towns dominate the top of the table: Odessa, Texas (100,000), took first place; followed by Midland, Texas (population: 111,000), in second place; Lafayette, La. (fourth, 114,000); Corpus Christi, Texas (sixth, 287,000); San Angelo, Texas (seventh, 92,000); Casper, Wyo. (10th, 54,000); and Bismarck, N.D. (21st, 61,000). These cities’ economies have expanded steadily over the last few years, beneficiaries of a great boom in fossil fuels that, unless derailed by regulators, will continue for the foreseeable future.

But some of the other best cities for jobs make their livings in different ways, such as No. 12 Glens Falls, N.Y., riding growth in business services and tourism; and No. 15 Columbia, Mo., which is primarily a college and government town. Several smaller communities have bounced back strongly with the recovery of manufacturing, including No. 3 Columbus Ind., No. 11 Williamsport, Pa., and No. 19 Holland-Grand Haven, Mich.

This shift in opportunity also parallels some compelling demographic trends. In the 1990s, the rate of population growth of areas over 1 million and those below was essentially similar. In contrast, in the subsequent decade, urban areas with fewer than a million people expanded by 15%, compared to barely 9% for larger urban areas, notes demographer Wendell Cox. In those 10 years, areas with fewer than a million people accounted for more than 60% of urban growth. Essentially more Americans are now moving to smaller regions than to larger ones.

We see is a very different reality than that often promoted by big city boosters. Large, dense urban regions clearly possess some great advantages: hub airports, big labor markets, concentrations of hospitals, schools, cultural amenities and specific industrial expertise. Yet despite these advantages, they still lag in the job creation race to unheralded, smaller communities.

Why are the stronger smaller cities growing faster than most larger ones? The keys may lie in many mundane factors that are often too prosaic for urban theorists. They include things such as strong community institutions like churches and shorter commutes than can be had in New York, L.A., Boston or the Bay Area (except for those willing to pay sky-high prices to live in a box near downtown). Young families might be attracted to better schools in some areas — notably the Great Plains — and the access to natural amenities common in many of these smaller communities.

Perhaps another underappreciated factor is Americans’ overwhelming preference for a single-family home, particularly young families. A recent survey from the National Association of Realtors found that 80 percent preferred a detached, single-family home; only a small sliver, roughly 7 percent, wanted to live in a dense urban area “close to it all.” Some 87 percent expressed a strong desire for greater privacy, something that generally comes with lower-density housing.

This trend towards smaller communities — unthinkable among big city planners and urban land speculators — is likely to continue for several reasons. For one thing, new telecommunications technology serves to even the playing field for companies in smaller cities. You can now operate a sophisticated global business from Fargo, N.D., or Shreveport, La., in ways inconceivable a decade or two ago.

Another key element is the predilections of two key expanding demographic groups: boomers and their offspring, the millennials. Aging boomers are not, in large part, hankering for dense city life, as is often asserted. If anything, if they choose to move, they tend toward less dense and even rural areas. Young families and many better-educated workers also seem to be moving generally to less dense and affordable places.

Perhaps even more surprising, this tendency toward decentralization can be seen around the world: much of the new growth is in smaller cities, with India as a prime example. A recent McKinsey study found that “middle-weight” cities, many of them well under a million, have already started taking a larger percentage of the world’s urban growth.

McKinsey suggests that the notion that megacities will dominate the urban future constitutes “a common misconception.” Instead surging smaller cities will constitute well over half of the world’s urban growth, gaining ever more share from the megacities over time. This is particularly true in the U.S. which constitutes the epicenter for the new smaller city economy. Of the world’s 600 “middleweight” cities, the U.S. is home to 257. Together they generate 70% of U.S. GDP.

What does this mean for investors, companies and individuals in the coming decades? For one thing, Wall Street, which tends to obsess over a handful of high-cost, dense, urban markets, may seek out new opportunities in faster-growing smaller cities. Prices tend to be lower and competition for prime space less intense, and the demographic wind is at their backs. Companies looking to expand may find not only a welcome mat from the locals, but also an expanding workforce in these generally more affordable places.

Finally, particularly for the next generation, the shift to smaller cities provides a whole realm of new options for sinking roots, starting business or a family and owning a home. Smaller city life certainly does not appeal to everyone, or every business, but their growing dynamism provides a welcome option for people who want to get a leg up in the next decade.

Read about how we selected the 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

This piece originally appeared in Forbes.

Photo: Glens Falls, NY

The Best Cities for Jobs 2012

Joel Kotkin and Michael Shires — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:51:04 -0400

Throughout the brutal recession, one metropolitan area floated serenely above the carnage: Washington, D.C. Buoyed by government spending, the local economy expanded 17% from 2007 to 2012. But for the first time in four years, the capital region has fallen out of the top 15 big cities in our annual survey of the best places for jobs, dropping to 16th place from fifth last year.

It’s a symptom of a significant and welcome shift in the weak U.S. economic recovery: employment growth has moved away from the public sector to private businesses. In 2011, for the first time since before the recession, growth in private-sector employment outstripped the public sector. More than half (231) of the 398 metro areas we surveyed for our annual study of employment trends registered declines in government jobs, with public-sector employment dropping 0.9 percent overall. Meanwhile, private-sector employment expanded 1.4 percent.

Read about how we selected the 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

Instead of government, the big drivers of growth now appear to be three basic sectors: energy, technology and, most welcome all, manufacturing. Energy-rich Texas cities dominate our list — the state has added some 200,000 generally high-paying oil and gas jobs over the past decade — but Texas is also leading in industrial job growth, technology and services. In first place in our ranking of the 65 largest metropolitan areas is Austin, which has logged strong growth in manufacturing, technology-related employment and business services. Houston places second, Ft. Worth fourth, and Dallas-Plano-Irving sixth. Another energy capital, Oklahoma City, ranks 10th, while resurgent New Orleans-Metairie places 13th among the largest metro areas.

To determine the best cities for jobs, we ranked all 398 current metropolitan statistical areas based on employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics covering November 2000 through January 2012. Rankings are based on recent growth trends, mid-term growth, long-term growth and the region’s momentum. (Here is a detailed description of our methodology.) We also broke down rankings by size — small, medium and large — since regional economies differ markedly due to their scale.

The strong growth of the energy sector, and Texas, is even more evident in our overall ranking, which includes many small and medium-sized metropolitan areas. The top 10 fastest growers overall include such energy-centric places as No. 1 Odessa, Texas; second-place Midland, Texas; Lafayette, La. (fourth place); Corpus Christi, Texas (sixth), San Angelo, Texas (seventh); and Casper, Wyo. (10th).

The shift from public to private can be seen in the falling rankings of many of the most government-dependent economies. Outside of Washington, D.C. (where federal employment actually has continued to grow), Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md., took an even more dramatic tumble in our big city table, dropping 34 places to No. 46.There were sizable relative declines in the rankings of many state capitals such as Springfield, Ill. and Madison, Wisc. College towns, which had previously done well in the face of the recession, have also moved sharply lower in our rankings, due to a combination of state budget cuts and better performance elsewhere. College Station, Texas, plummeted from fourth last year on our overall list to 167th; Fairbanks, Alaska, slid from 15th place to 165th, Corvallis, Ore., tumbled from 40th place to 203rd place; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, dropped from 81st to 246th.

Budget constraints have also hurt military towns, which previously had been largely immune to the recession. Last year’s overall No. 1, Killeen-Ft. Hood, Texas, slid to 43rd place; Jacksonville, N.C., home to Camp Lejeune, fell to 102nd from 19th last year; and Lawton, Okla., home to Fort Sill, slipped to 274th from No. 20 last year.

In addition to energy, the technology sector has been on a tear. After a decade of tepid growth and some years of job losses, Silicon Valley has blown itself another huge tech bubble, this time driven by the social media craze and a surge in private-equity investment. In the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area, the number of information sector jobs is up 36 percent over the past five years; this year the epicenter of Silicon Valley jumped 22 places to No. 5 among the 65 biggest metro areas. The social media boom has also been very good for the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City area, which rocketed 16 places to a solid 17th this year.

But much of the tech growth in the country has continued to flow to more affordable regions less dependent on venture investment. At the head of the pack is Austin, where Apple recently announced a large expansion, and Salt Lake City, No. 2 on our big cities list, which is a major destination for expansion for Silicon Valley firms such as Adobe, Twitter and Electronic Arts. Other big players benefiting from the tech boom include seventh-place Raleigh-Cary, N.C., which has been a consistent top 15 performer for the past seven years; Seattle, which rose 18 places to 14th, and Denver at No. 15.

Perhaps most encouraging of all has been the expansion of the manufacturing sector. In 2011 manufacturing expanded at three time the rate of overall GDP, according to Mark Perry of the University of Michigan-Flint, and the sector added 425,000 jobs, also outpacing the national average.

As a result, the fortunes of some of America’s hardest-hit manufacturing regions are improving. Columbus, Ind., rose from 235th overall last year to No. 3 on our list this year. Michigan is beginning to see some signs of new life: perennial cellar dweller Holland-Grand Haven rose a remarkable 202 places to 19th on the overall list. A slew of other Michigan cities rose more than 100 places, including Grand Rapids (64th place), Bay City (136th), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills (199th), Muskegon-Norton Shores (219th), and Jackson (233th). It is a glimmer of hope in a region that has lurked near the bottom of our Best Places rankings for as long as we have published it.

Another group of big cities that may be seeing light at the end of the tunnel are some of the metro areas hit hardest by the bursting of the housing bubble. Miami, Fla., which ranks 21st among the 65 largest metros, Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (33rd), Phoenix (45th), Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. (50th), and even Las Vegas (56th) began to show some signs of new life this past year.

So amidst all the good news, which big cities are still doing badly, or even relatively worse? Sadly, many of the places still declining are located in our home state of California, including Los Angeles (59th place among the biggest metro areas), Sacramento (60th), and, and just across the Bay from Silicon Valley, Oakland (63rd). Only the old, and to date still not recovering, industrial towns of Providence, R.I. (64th), and Birmingham-Hoover, Ala. (dead last at No. 65), did worse. And the glad tidings in manufacturing have not touched all the Rust Belt cities: Camden, N.J. (57th), Newark, N.J. (58th), Cleveland, Ohio (61st), and Detroit (62nd) still feature prominently near the bottom.

Read about how we selected the 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

This piece originally appeared in Forbes.

Michael Shires, Ph.D. is a professor at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy.

Austin photo by Bigstockphoto.com.

2012 How We Pick the Best Cities For Job Growth

Mark Schill — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:50:45 -0400

We seek to measure the robustness of a region’s growth both recently and over time. We look at 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 2000 to January 2012.

This year’s rankings use four measures of growth to rank all 398 metro areas for which full data sets were available from 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 current size of each MSA’s employment. Only one MSA, Lafayette, La., changed size categories, moving from the “Small” to “Midsize” category, so this year’s rankings can be directly compared to the 2011 rankings. In the instances where the analysis refers to changes in ranking order within the size categories, Lafayette, La., is reported as if it had been included in the “Midsize” category last year.

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 2006-2011 growth rate (two points); 3) long-term trend and momentum: the sum of the 2006-2011 and 2000-2005 employment growth rates multiplied by the ratio of the 2000-2005 growth rate over the 2006-2011 growth rate (two points); and 4) current year growth (one point).

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.

All Cities Rankings - 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

Mark Schill — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:29:26 -0400

Read about how we selected the 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

2012 Overall Ranking	Area	2012 Weighted INDEX	2011 Nonfarm Employment (1000s)	2011 Overall Rank	Overal Movement
1	Odessa, TX	99.4	68.3	11	10
2	Midland, TX	99.0	75.3	5	3
3	Columbus, IN	95.6	47.7	235	232
4	Lafayette, LA	92.5	156.3	34	30
5	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	91.6	798.5	6	1
6	Corpus Christi, TX	90.4	184.0	12	6
7	San Angelo, TX	89.2	46.7	32	25
8	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX	88.7	2637.3	14	6
9	Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA	87.8	73.9	273	264
10	Casper, WY	84.8	40.9	186	176
11	Williamsport, PA	83.7	55.4	73	62
12	Glens Falls, NY	83.0	55.6	77	65
13	Lubbock, TX	82.6	131.4	102	89
14	Laredo, TX	82.1	95.0	74	60
15	Columbia, MO	82.1	96.7	29	14
16	Cumberland, MD-WV	82.0	41.7	42	26
17	Gainesville, GA	81.9	75.8	68	51
18	Portsmouth, NH-ME NECTA	81.7	56.0	45	27
19	Holland-Grand Haven, MI	80.9	113.1	221	202
20	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX	79.7	232.3	27	7
21	Bismarck, ND	79.2	65.7	2	-19
22	Salt Lake City, UT	79.1	637.3	110	88
23	Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA	78.8	95.1	87	64
24	State College, PA	78.5	76.4	65	41
25	Fargo, ND-MN	78.4	127.3	38	13
26	Ocean City, NJ	78.0	36.8	79	53
27	El Paso, TX	77.8	283.1	3	-24
28	Owensboro, KY	77.6	51.8	88	60
29	Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC	77.4	296.4	90	61
30	Charlottesville, VA	77.0	102.3	116	86
31	Tyler, TX	76.9	96.0	85	54
32	Cheyenne, WY	76.8	44.7	145	113
33	Knoxville, TN	76.5	334.8	94	61
34	Barnstable Town, MA NECTA	76.2	94.4	95	61
35	Longview, TX	76.1	98.0	23	-12
36	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	76.0	36.6	217	181
37	Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Division	76.0	872.3	84	47
38	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	75.9	891.6	181	143
39	Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metropolitan Division	75.9	2077.9	18	-21
40	Raleigh-Cary, NC	75.9	514.5	83	43
41	Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, WA	75.8	99.0	25	-16
42	Victoria, TX	75.6	50.6	140	98
43	Pittsburgh, PA	75.2	1157.7	61	18
44	Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX	74.6	129.0	1	-43
45	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	74.0	759.6	48	3
46	Grand Junction, CO	73.8	60.5	232	186
47	Provo-Orem, UT	73.7	185.8	98	51
48	Oklahoma City, OK	73.6	575.7	124	76
49	New York City, NY	73.5	3816.0	52	3
50	Northern Virginia, VA	73.5	1342.3	43	-7
51	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	72.8	234.5	194	143
52	St. Joseph, MO-KS	72.8	60.6	159	107
53	Lafayette, IN	72.4	95.6	157	104
54	Pueblo, CO	72.4	58.7	99	45
55	Sherman-Denison, TX	72.2	43.6	184	129
56	Boulder, CO	72.1	164.3	150	94
57	Erie, PA	72.1	131.2	130	73
58	Fayetteville, NC	71.7	132.0	144	86
59	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	71.6	135.9	50	-9
60	Morgantown, WV	71.0	66.5	33	-27
61	Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL	70.8	81.0	311	250
62	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA	70.8	529.3	7	-55
63	Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA	70.7	90.9	126	63
64	Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI	70.6	375.7	183	119
65	Texarkana, TX-Texarkana, AR	70.6	58.1	59	-6
66	Peoria, IL	70.5	182.5	151	85
67	Baltimore City, MD	70.1	364.9	259	192
68	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division	70.0	1416.3	211	143
69	Utica-Rome, NY	69.8	133.1	177	108
70	Amarillo, TX	69.7	113.1	89	19
71	Brownsville-Harlingen, TX	69.6	129.5	28	-43
72	Palm Coast, FL	69.6	19.0	133	61
73	Rapid City, SD	69.5	60.5	97	24
74	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO	69.3	1219.8	164	90
75	Asheville, NC	69.2	172.0	158	83
76	Columbus, GA-AL	69.1	120.6	199	123
77	Winchester, VA-WV	69.0	56.4	139	62
78	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Met. Div.	68.7	2451.8	41	-37
79	Greeley, CO	68.7	80.3	193	114
80	Mankato-North Mankato, MN	68.7	53.5	168	88
81	Lincoln, NE	68.6	174.9	101	20
82	Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	68.5	94.3	44	-38
83	Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, MA-NH NECTA Div.	68.3	78.1	55	-28
84	Framingham, MA NECTA Division	68.2	158.0	210	126
85	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Div.	67.8	959.1	218	133
86	Kansas City, KS	67.7	435.2	242	156
87	Sioux Falls, SD	67.4	135.6	96	9
88	Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC	67.2	305.3	225	137
89	Trenton-Ewing, NJ	66.9	243.4	170	81
90	Canton-Massillon, OH	66.9	164.7	337	247
91	Rochester, NY	66.7	514.4	92	1
92	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	66.7	276.8	136	44
93	Ames, IA	66.0	48.2	114	21
94	Johnson City, TN	65.9	79.9	154	60
95	Dubuque, IA	65.8	56.6	8	-87
96	Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC	65.7	830.0	204	108
97	Logan, UT-ID	65.6	54.4	13	-84
98	Danbury, CT NECTA	65.6	67.8	264	166
99	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	65.4	854.0	17	-82
100	Altoona, PA	65.4	61.5	93	-7
101	Peabody, MA NECTA Division	65.3	101.4	247	146
102	Jacksonville, NC	65.3	47.8	19	-83
103	Auburn-Opelika, AL	65.1	53.6	30	-73
104	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	64.7	38.4	47	-57
105	Harrisonburg, VA	64.4	63.7	53	-52
106	Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, MA-NH NECTA Division	64.0	117.5	191	85
107	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO	63.8	204.3	63	-44
108	Ann Arbor, MI	63.7	202.4	128	20
109	Evansville, IN-KY	63.6	175.6	176	67
110	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	63.5	340.2	125	15
111	Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division	63.2	1019.5	234	123
112	Columbus, OH	62.7	924.0	108	-4
113	Burlington-South Burlington, VT NECTA	62.6	114.2	69	-44
114	Coeur d'Alene, ID	62.5	53.0	147	33
115	Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY	62.4	253.0	156	41
116	Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA	62.3	165.5	306	190
117	Clarksville, TN-KY	61.9	84.2	31	-86
118	Reading, PA	61.8	171.0	153	35
119	Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA	61.7	462.6	118	-1
120	Nassau-Suffolk, NY Metropolitan Division	61.5	1248.0	100	-20
121	York-Hanover, PA	61.4	177.7	106	-15
122	Joplin, MO	61.4	80.0	24	-98
123	Rochester-Dover, NH-ME NECTA	61.3	56.3	138	15
124	Baton Rouge, LA	60.9	369.2	198	74
125	Shreveport-Bossier City, LA	60.8	178.1	86	-39
126	Danville, VA	60.5	40.0	299	173
127	Lansing-East Lansing, MI	60.5	220.5	123	-4
128	Iowa City, IA	60.5	91.4	54	-74
129	Olympia, WA	60.4	99.4	263	134
130	Sandusky, OH	60.2	35.2	78	-52
131	St. Cloud, MN	60.2	99.6	72	-59
132	Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN	60.1	605.8	230	98
133	Putnam-Rockland-Westchester, NY	59.8	564.6	195	62
134	Jackson, MS	59.8	255.5	190	56
135	Richmond, VA	59.6	613.1	246	111
136	Bay City, MI	59.3	36.9	334	198
137	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	59.3	993.2	233	96
138	Hinesville-Fort Stewart, GA	59.3	19.8	67	-71
139	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA NECTA Division	59.2	1689.9	71	-68
140	Las Cruces, NM	59.2	69.8	56	-84
141	Springfield, IL	59.0	111.8	37	-104
142	Napa, CA	59.0	60.7	344	202
143	Salinas, CA	59.0	123.0	335	192
144	Lewiston-Auburn, ME NECTA	58.8	48.7	166	22
145	Burlington, NC	58.8	58.0	262	117
146	Jonesboro, AR	58.3	49.2	36	-110
147	Kankakee-Bradley, IL	58.1	43.3	127	-20
148	Greenville, NC	58.0	75.9	122	-26
149	Springfield, MO	57.9	194.1	161	12
150	Fort Wayne, IN	57.9	208.3	303	153
151	Manchester, NH NECTA	57.8	98.7	180	29
152	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA	57.6	543.1	175	23
153	Tulsa, OK	57.3	412.9	226	73
154	Decatur, IL	57.1	52.7	189	35
155	Appleton, WI	57.0	116.7	117	-38
156	Green Bay, WI	56.9	166.9	112	-44
157	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA	56.9	2323.4	329	172
158	Columbia, SC	56.8	349.7	276	118
159	Bellingham, WA	56.5	80.4	333	174
160	Bowling Green, KY	56.4	59.8	62	-98
161	Anchorage, AK	56.4	170.0	22	-139
162	Goldsboro, NC	56.1	43.2	287	125
163	Lebanon, PA	56.0	49.8	21	-142
164	Indianapolis-Carmel, IN	56.0	883.5	188	24
165	Fairbanks, AK	56.0	37.4	15	-150
166	Worcester, MA-CT NECTA	55.9	243.9	141	-25
167	College Station-Bryan, TX	55.8	95.9	4	-163
168	Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL	55.5	45.8	378	210
169	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	55.4	318.0	178	9
170	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	55.3	256.6	148	-22
171	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	55.2	1145.7	327	156
172	Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV	55.0	99.3	248	76
173	Merced, CA	54.9	56.4	155	-18
174	Warner Robins, GA	54.9	59.2	46	-128
175	Ogden-Clearfield, UT	54.8	193.8	149	-26
176	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	54.8	1729.0	294	118
177	Dover, DE	54.8	64.3	109	-68
178	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	54.8	107.9	258	80
179	Kingston, NY	54.7	61.6	187	8
180	Charleston, WV	54.7	148.1	197	17
181	Springfield, OH	54.7	49.9	129	-52
182	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	54.4	339.4	82	-100
183	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY	54.3	542.7	104	-79
184	Gulfport-Biloxi, MS	54.3	105.9	26	-158
185	Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach-Conway, SC	54.2	109.7	51	-134
186	Farmington, NM	54.1	48.8	272	86
187	Niles-Benton Harbor, MI	54.0	59.3	121	-66
188	Elizabethtown, KY	54.0	47.0	16	-172
189	El Centro, CA	54.0	45.3	251	62
190	Calvert-Charles-Prince George's, MD	53.8	382.2	209	19
191	La Crosse, WI-MN	53.2	73.9	163	-28
192	Naples-Marco Island, FL	53.2	117.5	370	178
193	Grand Forks, ND-MN	53.1	54.0	39	-154
194	Honolulu, HI	52.9	441.9	105	-89
195	Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, NJ	51.6	59.3	331	136
196	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA	51.6	1241.6	236	40
197	Decatur, AL	51.3	54.4	266	69
198	Yakima, WA	51.1	75.9	66	-132
199	Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division	51.1	1086.4	369	170
200	Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach, FL	51.1	71.4	162	-38
201	Monroe, LA	51.1	76.7	289	88
202	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	51.0	606.0	392	190
203	Corvallis, OR	50.9	37.8	40	-163
204	Jacksonville, FL	50.9	595.7	253	49
205	Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN	50.8	992.7	313	108
206	Vallejo-Fairfield, CA	50.2	120.1	322	116
207	Santa Fe, NM	50.1	61.0	227	20
208	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	50.0	1018.3	167	-41
209	Punta Gorda, FL	50.0	42.4	238	29
210	Salisbury, MD	49.9	52.9	275	65
211	Philadelphia City, PA	49.7	657.3	58	-153
212	Kansas City, MO	49.7	548.1	290	78
213	Florence, SC	49.6	82.7	281	68
214	Binghamton, NY	49.4	109.9	228	14
215	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	49.4	87.8	347	132
216	Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	49.2	73.3	208	-8
217	Jefferson City, MO	49.2	76.9	119	-98
218	Madison, WI	49.1	344.3	107	-111
219	Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI	48.8	60.2	393	174
220	Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ	48.6	878.3	254	34
221	South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI	48.6	135.7	345	124
222	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	48.5	321.6	205	-17
223	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	48.4	437.8	245	22
224	Bangor, ME NECTA	48.1	64.6	271	47
225	New Haven, CT NECTA	47.9	268.5	222	-3
226	Kokomo, IN	47.8	41.6	215	-11
227	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ	47.8	1739.9	339	112
228	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL	47.7	205.4	382	154
229	Waco, TX	47.6	104.4	49	-180
230	Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division	47.3	561.1	70	-160
231	Yuba City, CA	47.3	37.5	356	125
232	Gary, IN Metropolitan Division	47.2	268.5	328	96
233	Jackson, MI	47.2	54.6	391	158
234	Tacoma, WA Metropolitan Division	47.0	265.8	223	-11
235	Boise City-Nampa, ID	47.0	256.8	309	74
236	Lexington-Fayette, KY	46.5	249.1	103	-133
237	Syracuse, NY	46.4	314.4	172	-65
238	Wheeling, WV-OH	46.0	66.7	34	-204
239	Macon, GA	45.9	96.6	279	40
240	Idaho Falls, ID	45.6	48.7	216	-24
241	Lewiston, ID-WA	45.5	26.0	305	64
242	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division	45.4	1382.6	317	75
243	Johnstown, PA	45.4	60.0	57	-186
244	Athens-Clarke County, GA	45.4	84.1	132	-112
245	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL Metropolitan Division	45.2	3657.9	250	5
246	Cedar Rapids, IA	45.1	136.2	81	-165
247	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	45.0	733.5	244	-3
248	Lancaster, PA	45.0	226.8	192	-56
249	Chattanooga, TN-GA	45.0	233.4	203	-46
250	Dayton, OH	44.9	377.9	336	86
251	St. George, UT	44.9	46.3	324	73
252	Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL	44.8	55.1	131	-121
253	Rockford, IL	44.2	146.8	308	55
254	Pascagoula, MS	44.1	56.1	10	-244
255	Huntsville, AL	44.0	205.6	113	-142
256	Bloomington-Normal, IL	43.9	89.8	142	-114
257	Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA	43.7	117.5	265	8
258	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL	43.5	156.9	359	101
259	Winston-Salem, NC	43.3	207.2	358	99
260	Colorado Springs, CO	43.2	247.5	243	-17
261	Mobile, AL	42.9	174.7	165	-96
262	New Bedford, MA NECTA	42.8	64.8	75	-187
263	Topeka, KS	42.5	106.9	185	-78
264	Abilene, TX	42.5	64.7	160	-104
265	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	42.3	207.8	179	-86
266	Battle Creek, MI	42.1	56.0	207	-59
267	Fresno, CA	42.0	281.2	310	43
268	Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH	42.0	114.3	292	24
269	Manhattan, KS	41.9	54.5	9	-260
270	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	41.8	157.6	115	-155
271	Hot Springs, AR	41.7	36.9	146	-125
272	Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, MA NECTA Division	41.6	87.2	76	-196
273	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME NECTA	41.5	187.0	152	-121
274	Lawton, OK	41.2	42.4	20	-254
275	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	40.9	43.6	213	-62
276	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	40.7	1147.6	362	86
277	Anderson, IN	40.6	39.7	284	7
278	Eau Claire, WI	40.1	79.3	60	-218
279	Redding, CA	40.1	58.1	353	74
280	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	39.8	275.9	283	3
281	Billings, MT	39.3	76.6	137	-144
282	Edison-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division	39.2	978.3	249	-33
283	Fond du Lac, WI	39.2	45.2	302	19
284	Rochester, MN	39.0	101.0	202	-82
285	Lima, OH	38.8	52.5	326	41
286	Stockton, CA	38.8	189.6	361	75
287	Tuscaloosa, AL	38.7	93.2	134	-153
288	Tucson, AZ	38.6	358.4	332	44
289	Tallahassee, FL	38.3	169.5	201	-88
290	Springfield, MA-CT NECTA	38.3	285.4	224	-66
291	Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Met. Div.	38.1	715.9	342	51
292	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL	38.0	242.6	354	62
293	Albuquerque, NM	38.0	371.0	278	-15
294	Hattiesburg, MS	37.9	58.6	80	-214
295	Alexandria, LA	37.9	62.6	174	-121
296	Akron, OH	37.8	318.1	298	2
297	Pocatello, ID	37.6	36.2	341	44
298	Spartanburg, SC	37.4	118.0	231	-67
299	Savannah, GA	37.3	149.6	200	-99
300	Muncie, IN	37.2	50.1	314	14
301	Toledo, OH	37.2	301.8	277	-24
302	St. Louis, MO-IL	37.2	1289.9	206	-96
303	Great Falls, MT	36.9	34.2	64	-239
304	Ithaca, NY	36.7	62.7	35	-269
305	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT NECTA	36.4	397.0	196	-109
306	Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, MI	36.3	85.0	282	-24
307	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	36.3	808.8	143	-164
308	West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL Met. Div.	36.3	509.1	346	38
309	Bloomington, IN	36.1	81.2	135	-174
310	Roanoke, VA	36.0	155.4	316	6
311	Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Metropolitan Division	35.7	373.4	304	-7
312	Wilmington, NC	35.5	134.3	214	-98
313	Las Vegas-Paradise, NV	35.4	813.2	376	63
314	Flint, MI	35.3	136.6	390	76
315	Bremerton-Silverdale, WA	35.3	81.8	286	-29
316	Lawrence, KS	34.5	50.3	270	-46
317	Elmira, NY	34.4	39.0	91	-226
318	Salem, OR	34.2	141.0	269	-49
319	Spokane, WA	34.0	202.9	261	-58
320	Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA	33.8	222.9	318	-2
321	Danville, IL	33.7	29.2	371	50
322	Valdosta, GA	33.1	52.1	295	-27
323	Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, WV-OH	33.1	69.2	315	-8
324	Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division	33.1	502.8	301	-23
325	Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL	33.0	157.6	171	-154
326	Lake Charles, LA	32.6	88.2	267	-59
327	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	32.1	96.0	319	-8
328	Greensboro-High Point, NC	31.9	345.3	385	57
329	Dothan, AL	31.7	57.7	397	68
330	Pittsfield, MA NECTA	31.6	34.9	120	-210
331	Missoula, MT	31.4	53.8	252	-79
332	Mansfield, OH	31.2	52.5	383	51
333	Gainesville, FL	30.8	125.9	257	-76
334	Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division	29.8	974.2	343	9
335	Visalia-Porterville, CA	29.5	104.5	320	-15
336	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	29.4	135.2	349	13
337	Bend, OR	29.1	60.1	363	26
338	Jackson, TN	28.9	58.3	297	-41
339	Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division	28.8	331.7	364	25
340	Medford, OR	28.6	75.1	321	-19
341	Gadsden, AL	28.6	35.6	291	-50
342	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	28.2	193.2	351	9
343	Reno-Sparks, NV	27.9	190.3	372	29
344	Lynchburg, VA	27.8	102.1	237	-107
345	Ocala, FL	27.2	90.9	377	32
346	Port St. Lucie, FL	26.9	120.5	293	-53
347	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	26.5	177.2	229	-118
348	Racine, WI	26.5	74.8	296	-52
349	Nashua, NH-MA NECTA Division	26.4	124.0	312	-37
350	Wichita, KS	26.4	282.0	288	-62
351	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	26.4	195.4	323	-28
352	Madera-Chowchilla, CA	26.4	31.8	280	-72
353	Norwich-New London, CT-RI NECTA	26.3	125.7	268	-85
354	Flagstaff, AZ	26.2	59.0	111	-243
355	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division	26.1	3822.4	373	18
356	Modesto, CA	25.9	142.5	241	-115
357	Wausau, WI	25.8	66.5	355	-2
358	Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA	25.8	801.3	367	9
359	Montgomery, AL	25.7	164.3	338	-21
360	Michigan City-La Porte, IN	25.4	42.3	350	-10
361	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH	24.7	985.0	307	-54
362	Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ	24.5	45.6	375	13
363	Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Division	24.3	699.8	384	21
364	Duluth, MN-WI	24.1	125.9	173	-191
365	Chico, CA	23.3	67.8	239	-126
366	Waterbury, CT NECTA	23.3	62.5	330	-36
367	Cape Girardeau-Jackson, MO-IL	22.7	43.3	240	-127
368	Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	21.7	142.9	388	20
369	Wichita Falls, TX	20.7	57.8	274	-95
370	Terre Haute, IN	20.6	69.7	220	-150
371	Prescott, AZ	20.5	53.3	379	8
372	Cleveland, TN	20.3	38.5	285	-87
373	Sumter, SC	20.0	36.7	260	-113
374	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division	19.4	953.6	395	21
375	Longview, WA	19.2	35.0	348	-27
376	Yuma, AZ	19.1	49.1	365	-11
377	Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner, MA NECTA	18.3	47.2	182	-195
378	Anderson, SC	18.1	58.2	212	-166
379	Eugene-Springfield, OR	17.8	138.7	380	1
380	Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA	17.7	539.3	256	-124
381	Pine Bluff, AR	17.3	36.6	398	17
382	Brunswick, GA	17.2	39.2	368	-14
383	Anniston-Oxford, AL	15.8	47.7	352	-31
384	Birmingham-Hoover, AL	14.9	487.3	374	-10
385	Fort Smith, AR-OK	13.6	110.2	255	-130
386	Kalamazoo-Portage, MI	13.3	133.7	300	-86
387	Rome, GA	13.2	37.1	381	-6
388	Rocky Mount, NC	12.4	59.6	325	-63
389	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	11.4	168.0	357	-32
390	Sheboygan, WI	11.1	57.2	360	-30
391	Steubenville-Weirton, OH-WV	10.3	43.1	386	-5
392	Monroe, MI	9.3	37.0	387	-5
393	Albany, GA	7.0	59.3	340	-53
394	Champaign-Urbana, IL	6.0	103.4	219	-175
395	Carson City, NV	5.1	27.7	366	-29
396	Janesville, WI	4.4	60.0	396	0
397	Morristown, TN	2.8	43.6	389	-8
398	Dalton, GA	0.5	62.8	394	-4

2011 How We Pick the Best Cities For Job Growth

Mark Schill — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:58:22 -0400

The methodology for the 2011 rankings largely corresponds to that used last year, which emphasizes the robustness of a region's growth both recently and over time. 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 1999 to January 2011.

"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 current size of each MSA’s employment, unlike last year when some were “held over” in size categories to facilitate comparisons.

This year's rankings use four measures of growth to rank all areas for which full data sets were available from the past 10 years. Because of the expanded availability of data since last year, we were able to include another small MSA (Manhattan, KS) in this year’s rankings for a total of 398 regions. Generally, this year's rankings can be directly compared to the 2010 rankings for MSAs for the large and midsize categories, although there are eight MSAs that are reported in the Small size category that were Medium last year and one (Honolulu, HI) that was large that is now reported as medium-sized. In instances where the analysis refers to changes in ranking order, these adjustments are made accordingly, reporting the changes in ranking as if they had been categorized in their current category last year.

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 2005-2010 growth rate (two points); 3) long-term trend and momentum: the sum of the 2005-2010 and 1999-2004 employment growth rates multiplied by the ratio of the 1999-2004 growth rate over the 2005-2010 growth rate (two points); and 4) current year growth (one point).

Large Cities Rankings - 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

Mark Schill — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:54:55 -0400

Read about how we selected the 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

2012 New Geography Rankings - Large (> 450k employment)

2012 Rank Among Large Cities	Area	2012 Weighted INDEX	2011 Nonfarm Employment (1000s)	2011 Size Ranking	Size Movement
1	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	91.6	798.5	1	0
2	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX	88.7	2637.3	3	1
3	Salt Lake City, UT	79.1	637.3	20	17
4	Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Division	76.0	872.3	15	11
5	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	75.9	891.6	27	22
6	Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metropolitan Division	75.9	2077.9	5	-1
7	Raleigh-Cary, NC	75.9	514.5	14	7
8	Pittsburgh, PA	75.2	1157.7	11	3
9	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	74.0	759.6	8	-1
10	Oklahoma City, OK	73.6	575.7	22	12
11	New York City, NY	73.5	3816.0	9	-2
12	Northern Virginia, VA	73.5	1342.3	7	-5
13	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA	70.8	529.3	2	-11
14	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division	70.0	1416.3	32	18
15	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO	69.3	1219.8	24	9
16	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Met. Div.	68.7	2451.8	6	-10
17	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Met. Div.	67.8	959.1	33	16
18	Rochester, NY	66.7	514.4	16	-2
19	Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC	65.7	830.0	30	11
20	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	65.4	854.0	4	-16
21	Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division	63.2	1019.5	36	15
22	Columbus, OH	62.7	924.0	19	-3
23	Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA	61.7	462.6	21	-2
24	Nassau-Suffolk, NY Metropolitan Division	61.5	1248.0	17	-7
25	Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN	60.1	605.8	34	9
26	Putnam-Rockland-Westchester, NY	59.8	564.6	29	3
27	Richmond, VA	59.6	613.1	39	12
28	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	59.3	993.2	35	7
29	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA NECTA Division	59.2	1689.9	13	-16
30	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA	57.6	543.1	26	-4
31	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA	56.9	2323.4	52	21
32	Indianapolis-Carmel, IN	56.0	883.5	28	-4
33	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	55.2	1145.7	51	18
34	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	54.8	1729.0	46	12
35	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY	54.3	542.7	18	-17
36	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA	51.6	1241.6	37	1
37	Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division	51.1	1086.4	59	22
38	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	51.0	606.0	64	26
39	Jacksonville, FL	50.9	595.7	42	3
40	Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN	50.8	992.7	49	9
41	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	50.0	1018.3	25	-16
42	Philadelphia City, PA	49.7	657.3	10	-32
43	Kansas City, MO	49.7	548.1	45	2
44	Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ	48.6	878.3	43	-1
45	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ	47.8	1739.9	53	8
46	Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division	47.3	561.1	12	-34
47	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division	45.4	1382.6	50	3
48	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL Metropolitan Division	45.2	3657.9	41	-7
49	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	45.0	733.5	38	-11
50	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	40.7	1147.6	57	7
51	Edison-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division	39.2	978.3	40	-11
52	Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Met. Div.	38.1	715.9	54	2
53	St. Louis, MO-IL	37.2	1289.9	31	-22
54	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	36.3	808.8	23	-31
55	West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL Met. Div.	36.3	509.1	56	1
56	Las Vegas-Paradise, NV	35.4	813.2	62	6
57	Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division	33.1	502.8	47	-10
58	Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division	29.8	974.2	55	-3
59	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division	26.1	3822.4	60	1
60	Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA	25.8	801.3	58	-2
61	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH	24.7	985.0	48	-13
62	Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Division	24.3	699.8	63	1
63	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division	19.4	953.6	65	2
64	Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA	17.7	539.3	44	-20
65	Birmingham-Hoover, AL	14.9	487.3	61	-4

Midsized Cities Rankings - 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

Mark Schill — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:43:41 -0400

Read about how we selected the 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

2012 New Geography Rankings - MEDIUM (150k - 450k employment)

2012 Rank Among Medium Cities	Area	2012 Weighted INDEX	2011 Nonfarm Employment (1000s)	2011 Size Ranking	Size Movement
1	Lafayette, LA	92.5	156.3	34	33
2	Corpus Christi, TX	90.4	184.0	2	0
3	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX	79.7	232.3	6	3
4	El Paso, TX	77.8	283.1	1	-3
5	Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC	77.4	296.4	8	3
6	Knoxville, TN	76.5	334.8	9	3
7	Provo-Orem, UT	73.7	185.8	30	23
8	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	72.8	234.5	43	35
9	Boulder, CO	72.1	164.3	26	17
10	Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI	70.6	375.7	40	30
11	Peoria, IL	70.5	182.5	65	54
12	Baltimore City, MD	70.1	364.9	60	48
13	Asheville, NC	69.2	172.0	31	18
14	Lincoln, NE	68.6	174.9	10	-4
15	Framingham, MA NECTA Division	68.2	158.0	50	35
16	Kansas City, KS	67.7	435.2	57	41
17	Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC	67.2	305.3	54	37
18	Trenton-Ewing, NJ	66.9	243.4	11	-7
19	Canton-Massillon, OH	66.9	164.7	79	60
20	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	66.7	276.8	22	2
21	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO	63.8	204.3	5	-16
22	Ann Arbor, MI	63.7	202.4	21	-1
23	Evansville, IN-KY	63.6	175.6	37	14
24	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	63.5	340.2	20	-4
25	Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY	62.4	253.0	29	4
26	Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA	62.3	165.5	66	40
27	Reading, PA	61.8	171.0	55	28
28	York-Hanover, PA	61.4	177.7	46	18
29	Baton Rouge, LA	60.9	369.2	45	16
30	Shreveport-Bossier City, LA	60.8	178.1	12	-18
31	Lansing-East Lansing, MI	60.5	220.5	68	37
32	Jackson, MS	59.8	255.5	41	9
33	Springfield, MO	57.9	194.1	24	-9
34	Fort Wayne, IN	57.9	208.3	68	34
35	Tulsa, OK	57.3	412.9	37	2
36	Green Bay, WI	56.9	166.9	16	-20
37	Columbia, SC	56.8	349.7	62	25
38	Anchorage, AK	56.4	170.0	3	-35
39	Worcester, MA-CT NECTA	55.9	243.9	59	20
40	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	55.4	318.0	38	-2
41	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	55.3	256.6	28	-13
42	Ogden-Clearfield, UT	54.8	193.8	19	-23
43	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	54.4	339.4	15	-28
44	Calvert-Charles-Prince George's, MD	53.8	382.2	49	5
45	Honolulu, HI	52.9	441.9	13	3
46	Madison, WI	49.1	344.3	33	-13
47	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	48.5	321.6	48	1
48	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	48.4	437.8	59	11
49	New Haven, CT NECTA	47.9	268.5	44	-5
50	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL	47.7	205.4	89	39
51	Gary, IN Metropolitan Division	47.2	268.5	76	25
52	Tacoma, WA Metropolitan Division	47.0	265.8	39	-13
53	Boise City-Nampa, ID	47.0	256.8	71	18
54	Lexington-Fayette, KY	46.5	249.1	14	-40
55	Syracuse, NY	46.4	314.4	18	-37
56	Lancaster, PA	45.0	226.8	62	6
57	Chattanooga, TN-GA	45.0	233.4	47	-10
58	Dayton, OH	44.9	377.9	78	20
59	Huntsville, AL	44.0	205.6	17	-42
60	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL	43.5	156.9	85	25
61	Winston-Salem, NC	43.3	207.2	47	-14
62	Colorado Springs, CO	43.2	247.5	58	-4
63	Mobile, AL	42.9	174.7	63	0
64	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	42.3	207.8	39	-25
65	Fresno, CA	42.0	281.2	72	7
66	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	41.8	157.6	18	-48
67	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME NECTA	41.5	187.0	41	-26
68	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	39.8	275.9	80	12
69	Stockton, CA	38.8	189.6	78	9
70	Tucson, AZ	38.6	358.4	58	-12
71	Tallahassee, FL	38.3	169.5	16	-55
72	Springfield, MA-CT NECTA	38.3	285.4	77	5
73	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL	38.0	242.6	89	16
74	Albuquerque, NM	38.0	371.0	64	-10
75	Akron, OH	37.8	318.1	67	-8
76	Toledo, OH	37.2	301.8	95	19
77	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT NECTA	36.4	397.0	44	-33
78	Roanoke, VA	36.0	155.4	51	-27
79	Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Metropolitan Division	35.7	373.4	71	-8
80	Spokane, WA	34.0	202.9	31	-49
81	Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA	33.8	222.9	93	12
82	Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL	33.0	157.6	45	-37
83	Greensboro-High Point, NC	31.9	345.3	90	7
84	Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division	28.8	331.7	72	-12
85	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	28.2	193.2	75	-10
86	Reno-Sparks, NV	27.9	190.3	92	6
87	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	26.5	177.2	56	-31
88	Wichita, KS	26.4	282.0	64	-24
89	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	26.4	195.4	70	-19
90	Montgomery, AL	25.7	164.3	52	-38
91	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	11.4	168.0	88	-3

Small Cities Rankings - 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

Mark Schill — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:53:32 -0400

Read about how we selected the 2012 Best Cities for Job Growth

2012 New Geography Rankings - SMALL (< 150k employment)

2012 Rank Among Small Cities	Area	2012 Weighted INDEX	2011 Nonfarm Employment (1000s)	2011 Size Ranking	Size Movement
1	Odessa, TX	99.4	68.3	8	7
2	Midland, TX	99.0	75.3	4	2
3	Columbus, IN	95.6	47.7	143	140
4	Lafayette, LA	92.5	156.3	111	107
5	San Angelo, TX	89.2	46.7	23	18
6	Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA	87.8	73.9	168	162
7	Casper, WY	84.8	40.9	119	112
8	Williamsport, PA	83.7	55.4	55	47
9	Glens Falls, NY	83.0	55.6	59	50
10	Lubbock, TX	82.6	131.4	74	64
11	Laredo, TX	82.1	95.0	56	45
12	Columbia, MO	82.1	96.7	20	8
13	Cumberland, MD-WV	82.0	41.7	32	19
14	Gainesville, GA	81.9	75.8	52	38
15	Portsmouth, NH-ME NECTA	81.7	56.0	34	19
16	Holland-Grand Haven, MI	80.9	113.1	138	122
17	Bismarck, ND	79.2	65.7	2	-15
18	Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA	78.8	95.1	65	47
19	State College, PA	78.5	76.4	49	30
20	Fargo, ND-MN	78.4	127.3	29	9
21	Ocean City, NJ	78.0	36.8	61	40
22	Owensboro, KY	77.6	51.8	66	44
23	Charlottesville, VA	77.0	102.3	78	55
24	Tyler, TX	76.9	96.0	64	40
25	Cheyenne, WY	76.8	44.7	99	74
26	Barnstable Town, MA NECTA	76.2	94.4	70	44
27	Longview, TX	76.1	98.0	15	-12
28	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	76.0	36.6	135	107
29	Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, WA	75.8	99.0	17	-12
30	Victoria, TX	75.6	50.6	96	66
31	Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX	74.6	129.0	1	-30
32	Grand Junction, CO	73.8	60.5	142	110
33	St. Joseph, MO-KS	72.8	60.6	105	72
34	Lafayette, IN	72.4	95.6	104	70
35	Pueblo, CO	72.4	58.7	73	38
36	Sherman-Denison, TX	72.2	43.6	117	81
37	Erie, PA	72.1	131.2	87	50
38	Fayetteville, NC	71.7	132.0	98	60
39	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	71.6	135.9	38	-1
40	Morgantown, WV	71.0	66.5	24	-16
41	Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL	70.8	81.0	191	150
42	Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA	70.7	90.9	84	42
43	Texarkana, TX-Texarkana, AR	70.6	58.1	45	2
44	Utica-Rome, NY	69.8	133.1	114	70
45	Amarillo, TX	69.7	113.1	67	22
46	Brownsville-Harlingen, TX	69.6	129.5	19	-27
47	Palm Coast, FL	69.6	19.0	90	43
48	Rapid City, SD	69.5	60.5	72	24
49	Columbus, GA-AL	69.1	120.6	125	76
50	Winchester, VA-WV	69.0	56.4	95	45
51	Greeley, CO	68.7	80.3	123	72
52	Mankato-North Mankato, MN	68.7	53.5	110	58
53	Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	68.5	94.3	33	-20
54	Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, MA-NH NECTA Division	68.3	78.1	42	-12
55	Sioux Falls, SD	67.4	135.6	71	16
56	Ames, IA	66.0	48.2	77	21
57	Johnson City, TN	65.9	79.9	102	45
58	Dubuque, IA	65.8	56.6	5	-53
59	Logan, UT-ID	65.6	54.4	9	-50
60	Danbury, CT NECTA	65.6	67.8	159	99
61	Altoona, PA	65.4	61.5	69	8
62	Peabody, MA NECTA Division	65.3	101.4	149	87
63	Jacksonville, NC	65.3	47.8	12	-51
64	Auburn-Opelika, AL	65.1	53.6	21	-43
65	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	64.7	38.4	36	-29
66	Harrisonburg, VA	64.4	63.7	40	-26
67	Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, MA-NH NECTA Division	64.0	117.5	122	55
68	Burlington-South Burlington, VT NECTA	62.6	114.2	53	-15
69	Coeur d'Alene, ID	62.5	53.0	101	32
70	Clarksville, TN-KY	61.9	84.2	22	-48
71	Joplin, MO	61.4	80.0	16	-55
72	Rochester-Dover, NH-ME NECTA	61.3	56.3	94	22
73	Danville, VA	60.5	40.0	186	113
74	Iowa City, IA	60.5	91.4	41	-33
75	Olympia, WA	60.4	99.4	158	83
76	Sandusky, OH	60.2	35.2	60	-16
77	St. Cloud, MN	60.2	99.6	54	-23
78	Bay City, MI	59.3	36.9	205	127
79	Hinesville-Fort Stewart, GA	59.3	19.8	51	-28
80	Las Cruces, NM	59.2	69.8	43	-37
81	Springfield, IL	59.0	111.8	28	-53
82	Napa, CA	59.0	60.7	209	127
83	Salinas, CA	59.0	123.0	206	123
84	Lewiston-Auburn, ME NECTA	58.8	48.7	109	25
85	Burlington, NC	58.8	58.0	157	72
86	Jonesboro, AR	58.3	49.2	27	-59
87	Kankakee-Bradley, IL	58.1	43.3	85	-2
88	Greenville, NC	58.0	75.9	83	-5
89	Manchester, NH NECTA	57.8	98.7	115	26
90	Decatur, IL	57.1	52.7	121	31
91	Appleton, WI	57.0	116.7	79	-12
92	Bellingham, WA	56.5	80.4	204	112
93	Bowling Green, KY	56.4	59.8	47	-46
94	Goldsboro, NC	56.1	43.2	178	84
95	Lebanon, PA	56.0	49.8	14	-81
96	Fairbanks, AK	56.0	37.4	10	-86
97	College Station-Bryan, TX	55.8	95.9	3	-94
98	Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL	55.5	45.8	228	130
99	Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV	55.0	99.3	150	51
100	Merced, CA	54.9	56.4	103	3
101	Warner Robins, GA	54.9	59.2	35	-66
102	Dover, DE	54.8	64.3	75	-27
103	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	54.8	107.9	155	52
104	Kingston, NY	54.7	61.6	120	16
105	Charleston, WV	54.7	148.1	124	-12
106	Springfield, OH	54.7	49.9	86	-20
107	Gulfport-Biloxi, MS	54.3	105.9	18	-89
108	Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach-Conway, SC	54.2	109.7	39	-69
109	Farmington, NM	54.1	48.8	167	58
110	Niles-Benton Harbor, MI	54.0	59.3	82	-28
111	Elizabethtown, KY	54.0	47.0	11	-100
112	El Centro, CA	54.0	45.3	151	39
113	La Crosse, WI-MN	53.2	73.9	108	-5
114	Naples-Marco Island, FL	53.2	117.5	224	110
115	Grand Forks, ND-MN	53.1	54.0	30	-85
116	Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, NJ	51.6	59.3	203	87
117	Decatur, AL	51.3	54.4	161	44
118	Yakima, WA	51.1	75.9	50	-68
119	Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach, FL	51.1	71.4	107	-12
120	Monroe, LA	51.1	76.7	179	59
121	Corvallis, OR	50.9	37.8	31	-90
122	Vallejo-Fairfield, CA	50.2	120.1	198	76
123	Santa Fe, NM	50.1	61.0	139	16
124	Punta Gorda, FL	50.0	42.4	145	21
125	Salisbury, MD	49.9	52.9	170	45
126	Florence, SC	49.6	82.7	173	47
127	Binghamton, NY	49.4	109.9	140	13
128	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	49.4	87.8	211	83
129	Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	49.2	73.3	129	0
130	Jefferson City, MO	49.2	76.9	80	-50
131	Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI	48.8	60.2	239	108
132	South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI	48.6	135.7	210	78
133	Bangor, ME NECTA	48.1	64.6	166	33
134	Kokomo, IN	47.8	41.6	133	-1
135	Waco, TX	47.6	104.4	37	-98
136	Yuba City, CA	47.3	37.5	218	82
137	Jackson, MI	47.2	54.6	238	101
138	Wheeling, WV-OH	46.0	66.7	25	-113
139	Macon, GA	45.9	96.6	171	32
140	Idaho Falls, ID	45.6	48.7	134	-6
141	Lewiston, ID-WA	45.5	26.0	189	48
142	Johnstown, PA	45.4	60.0	44	-98
143	Athens-Clarke County, GA	45.4	84.1	89	-54
144	Cedar Rapids, IA	45.1	136.2	63	-81
145	St. George, UT	44.9	46.3	199	54
146	Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL	44.8	55.1	88	-58
147	Rockford, IL	44.2	146.8	190	20
148	Pascagoula, MS	44.1	56.1	7	-141
149	Bloomington-Normal, IL	43.9	89.8	97	-52
150	Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA	43.7	117.5	160	10
151	New Bedford, MA NECTA	42.8	64.8	57	-94
152	Topeka, KS	42.5	106.9	118	-34
153	Abilene, TX	42.5	64.7	106	-47
154	Battle Creek, MI	42.1	56.0	128	-26
155	Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH	42.0	114.3	181	26
156	Manhattan, KS	41.9	54.5	6
157	Hot Springs, AR	41.7	36.9	100	-57
158	Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, MA NECTA Division	41.6	87.2	58	-100
159	Lawton, OK	41.2	42.4	13	-146
160	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	40.9	43.6	131	-29
161	Anderson, IN	40.6	39.7	175	14
162	Eau Claire, WI	40.1	79.3	46	-116
163	Redding, CA	40.1	58.1	216	53
164	Billings, MT	39.3	76.6	93	-71
165	Fond du Lac, WI	39.2	45.2	188	23
166	Rochester, MN	39.0	101.0	127	-39
167	Lima, OH	38.8	52.5	201	34
168	Tuscaloosa, AL	38.7	93.2	91	-77
169	Hattiesburg, MS	37.9	58.6	62	-107
170	Alexandria, LA	37.9	62.6	113	-57
171	Pocatello, ID	37.6	36.2	208	37
172	Spartanburg, SC	37.4	118.0	141	-31
173	Savannah, GA	37.3	149.6	126	-8
174	Muncie, IN	37.2	50.1	193	19
175	Great Falls, MT	36.9	34.2	48	-127
176	Ithaca, NY	36.7	62.7	26	-150
177	Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, MI	36.3	85.0	174	-3
178	Bloomington, IN	36.1	81.2	92	-86
179	Wilmington, NC	35.5	134.3	132	-47
180	Flint, MI	35.3	136.6	237	57
181	Bremerton-Silverdale, WA	35.3	81.8	177	-4
182	Lawrence, KS	34.5	50.3	165	-17
183	Elmira, NY	34.4	39.0	68	-115
184	Salem, OR	34.2	141.0	164	-43
185	Danville, IL	33.7	29.2	225	40
186	Valdosta, GA	33.1	52.1	183	-3
187	Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, WV-OH	33.1	69.2	194	7
188	Lake Charles, LA	32.6	88.2	162	-26
189	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	32.1	96.0	195	6
190	Dothan, AL	31.7	57.7	242	52
191	Pittsfield, MA NECTA	31.6	34.9	81	-110
192	Missoula, MT	31.4	53.8	152	-40
193	Mansfield, OH	31.2	52.5	232	39
194	Gainesville, FL	30.8	125.9	154	-40
195	Visalia-Porterville, CA	29.5	104.5	196	1
196	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	29.4	135.2	213	17
197	Bend, OR	29.1	60.1	220	23
198	Jackson, TN	28.9	58.3	185	-13
199	Medford, OR	28.6	75.1	197	-2
200	Gadsden, AL	28.6	35.6	180	-20
201	Lynchburg, VA	27.8	102.1	144	-57
202	Ocala, FL	27.2	90.9	227	25
203	Port St. Lucie, FL	26.9	120.5	182	-21
204	Racine, WI	26.5	74.8	184	-20
205	Nashua, NH-MA NECTA Division	26.4	124.0	192	-13
206	Madera-Chowchilla, CA	26.4	31.8	172	-34
207	Norwich-New London, CT-RI NECTA	26.3	125.7	163	-44
208	Flagstaff, AZ	26.2	59.0	76	-132
209	Modesto, CA	25.9	142.5	148	20
210	Wausau, WI	25.8	66.5	217	7
211	Michigan City-La Porte, IN	25.4	42.3	214	3
212	Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ	24.5	45.6	226	14
213	Duluth, MN-WI	24.1	125.9	112	-101
214	Chico, CA	23.3	67.8	146	-68
215	Waterbury, CT NECTA	23.3	62.5	202	-13
216	Cape Girardeau-Jackson, MO-IL	22.7	43.3	147	-69
217	Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	21.7	142.9	235	-1
218	Wichita Falls, TX	20.7	57.8	169	-49
219	Terre Haute, IN	20.6	69.7	137	-82
220	Prescott, AZ	20.5	53.3	229	9
221	Cleveland, TN	20.3	38.5	176	-45
222	Sumter, SC	20.0	36.7	156	-66
223	Longview, WA	19.2	35.0	212	-11
224	Yuma, AZ	19.1	49.1	221	-3
225	Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner, MA NECTA	18.3	47.2	116	-109
226	Anderson, SC	18.1	58.2	130	-96
227	Eugene-Springfield, OR	17.8	138.7	230	-11
228	Pine Bluff, AR	17.3	36.6	243	15
229	Brunswick, GA	17.2	39.2	223	-6
230	Anniston-Oxford, AL	15.8	47.7	215	-15
231	Fort Smith, AR-OK	13.6	110.2	153	-78
232	Kalamazoo-Portage, MI	13.3	133.7	187	-45
233	Rome, GA	13.2	37.1	231	-2
234	Rocky Mount, NC	12.4	59.6	200	-34
235	Sheboygan, WI	11.1	57.2	219	-16
236	Steubenville-Weirton, OH-WV	10.3	43.1	233	-3
237	Monroe, MI	9.3	37.0	234	-3
238	Albany, GA	7.0	59.3	207	-31
239	Champaign-Urbana, IL	6.0	103.4	136	-103
240	Carson City, NV	5.1	27.7	222	-18
241	Janesville, WI	4.4	60.0	241	0
242	Morristown, TN	2.8	43.6	236	-6
243	Dalton, GA	0.5	62.8	240	-3