Considering a job change? Ever think about moving to Pittsburgh? How about St. Louis, or Indianapolis?
Those three metropolitan areas head up career site Glassdoor’s latest list of the 25 best towns to work in, an annual study that gives equal weight to three factors: How easy it is to find a job, how affordable the city is, and how satisfied current denizens say they are at work.
But let’s say you want to focus on the cities with the highest number of available opportunities, where you’re likely to have the most choice among prospective employers, and the smallest number of candidates competing for the same openings. Glassdoor compiled a separate list for Fortune, which shows the places with the most job opportunities relative to the area’s population. Here are the top 10.
10 Best U.S. Cities for Jobs in 2018
- Boston, MA
- San Jose, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Washington, DC
- Raleigh, NC
- Seattle, WA
- Hartford, CT
- Denver, CO
- Baltimore, MD
“In today’s job market, highly skilled job seekers are in an incredible position” to find new jobs just about everywhere, says Glassdoor economic research analyst Amanda Stansell. Especially promising are often-overlooked smaller cities with booming economies, a healthy dose of new job creation and, in most cases, a relatively low cost of living. A notable exception: San Jose, Calif. The city is rich in job opportunities but, according to Glassdoor’s ranking of current data from real estate site Zillow, if you want to move there, it helps to be rich, period. The median house price in San Jose is now the highest in the U.S., at $1.2 million.
Who’s doing the most hiring? As you might guess, IT companies are adding the most headcount in every city on Glassdoor’s lists. But, Stansell points out, previous research published this past July found that just over 40% of jobs being created even in the tech industry are for non-tech roles. That’s about 53,000 new jobs annually.
“As they scale and grow, they need all kinds of talent,” says Stansell. Most in-demand are new hires with experience as account executives, project managers, sales reps, operations managers, marketing managers, and financial analysts.
Tech companies also have an edge over other industries because, Stansell adds, “they’re known for having great cultures.”
She has a point. Consider: Given that many employees can expect only modest raises in the next year or so, it would be logical if most people changing jobs were motivated by money, especially if they’re restless enough to pull up stakes and move to a different city, and that notion isn’t entirely wrong. Glassdoor’s analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data on people who moved for work shows that “an extra $10,000 in annual base salary predicts candidates are about half a percentage point (0.41%) more likely” to take a new job in a different place.
By contrast, the tech industry’s reputation as a hotbed of continuous learning and innovation (not to mention plain old fun) is apparently an even bigger draw. A lofty rating as an all-around great place to work predicts that job hunters will be 2.5 percentage points more willing to move to a new town. Notes Glassdoor’s report, “That’s statistically significant, and roughly six times larger than the impact of offering $10,000 higher pay.”
Anne Fisher is a career expert and advice columnist who writes “Work It Out,” Fortune’s guide to working and living in the 21st century. Each week, she’ll answer your most challenging career questions. Have one? Ask her on Twitter or email her at workitout@fortune.com.
