If finding a new job is at the top of your New Year’s resolutions list, you’ll have a distinct advantage in cities with a large number and variety of jobs, growing demand for workers, high wages and more openings than workers to fill them.
To help you identify the hottest job markets heading into the new year, employment marketplace ZipRecruiter ranked the hottest metro areas:
1. Fargo, ND-MN
The Fargo metro area lands the top spot due to its rapid job growth rate and high opportunity index (that is, a favorable ratio of job openings to candidates). Right now, job postings are growing at a rate of 55% per year in Fargo, and employers are struggling to find qualified candidates. That gives each applicant a higher likelihood of hearing back from employers, landing interviews and getting offers. Like other cities along the northern frontier, Fargo is cold, but it has a lot going for it. It is surrounded by universities, has a top-level hospital and is home to one of Microsoft’s largest corporate campuses.
2. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Boston is a top performer when it comes to the number of high-wage job opportunities available. It is internationally renowned as a center of higher education, with its many top-ranked universities, and is a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation. Boston’s job market continues to grow at an above-average rate, with particularly attractive opportunities in information technology, biotechnology, finance, law and business services.
3. Sioux Falls, SD
Like Fargo, Sioux Falls rises up the rankings due to its rapid job growth rate and high opportunity index. It has a particularly impressive number of job opportunities in health care and financial services because it has four major hospitals and because its lack of a state corporate income tax has attracted multiple financial companies to establish their headquarters there.
4. Providence-Warwick, RI-MA
At a time when the fastest-growing sectors are education and health care, Providence is at an advantage, with its many major hospitals and universities. Providence boasts a wide variety of service-sector job opportunities and is home to four Fortune 500 companies, which are major employers, including CVS Health.
5. Portland-South Portland, ME
Portland, Maine, makes the rankings primarily because of its high opportunity index. Like so many other U.S. cities, it has made the transition from the manufacturing economy to the service economy. It is also receiving an economic boost from the e-commerce boom, thanks to its large port, advanced shipping industry, and innovative warehousing and storage companies.
Also noted:
6. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
7. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
8. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
9. Bismarck, ND
10. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA