A new study from Glassdoor found that San Jose, California is the top city in the United States for jobs in 2016. Closely following in second place is another Northern California metropolis in San Francisco.
These two cities leading the pack should come as no surprise as they are in the heart of Silicon Valley. Many of the companies in this region are also leaders in job opportunities, job satisfaction, and work-life balance, the three main factors in determining the most lucrative markets.
Rounding out the top ten markets are Seattle; Boston; Washington D.C.; Austin, TX; Salt Lake City; Raleigh-Durham, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Oklahoma City.
The researchers who conducted the study point out that a bigger city doesn’t always make a city a better place to start a career. Mid-sized cities with a growing job market, burgeoning technology communities, solid institutions for research and higher education, and affordable neighborhoods make a great place to start a career. If nothing else, they provide bang for the buck.
To conduct this study, the researchers examined the 50 biggest metropolitan areas in terms of population, and graded them on a scale from one to five for four factors. These factors were the three main factors mentioned, along with the ratio of job openings to population. This year’s iteration of the report used work-life balance as a metric for job satisfaction for the first time.
Although the top three ranked cities are on the West Coast, it is important to note that a majority of the remainder are on the eastern half of the United States. The full 25 city list of cities that made the cut are available via Glassdoor’s website.
