If you’ve decided it’s time to find your fortune, you may want to be strategic about where you look for it. The website NerdWallet has some suggestions.
[find-an-apartment]They’ve ranked the top 10 cities for job seekers, crunching the data and basing their list on population growth, employment rates, cost of living and income.
If you’re looking for a good, steady paycheck and the potential for future growth, consider finding an apartment in one of the top cities they’ve determined:
1. Austin, Texas
2. Washington, D.C.
3. San Francisco, Calif.
4. Denver, Colo.
5. Houston, Texas
6. Fort Worth, Texas
7. Dallas, Texas
8. Seattle, Wash.
9. San Antonio, Texas
10. Charlotte, N.C.
Top Texan Towns
They say that everything’s bigger in Texas, and apparently that edict extends to economic growth, as well. Of the top 10 cities that made the list, half of them are located in the Lone Star State.
What makes Texas metros such a good place to find a job? According to Forbes, it comes to down to an affordable cost of living connected with explosive population growth. When a city’s expanding, it is attractive to large companies that want to make use of the available resources. An expanding population also means that these growing cities have a need for more services — in turn, creating more jobs.
In addition to Texas’s growing population, the state also offers an abundance of natural resources, a variety of institutions of higher education, and unique cities like Austin, Houston and San Antonio — all of which help contribute to a diverse and stable economy. You just might consider heading southwest if you’re looking for your next great gig!
Bigger is not always better
But Forbes is also careful to note that it isn’t necessarily the biggest city that brings the biggest paycheck or best standard of living. Job seekers sometimes assume that big cities like New York and Chicago are the best places to find employment. The biggest cities, however, often have the highest costs of living. While you may be able to land a job in a bustling metro, keep in mind that a good portion of your paycheck may end up going to your living expenses each month.
Set your sights
Ready to start a job search in one of these top cities? CNN Money suggests working your social network and researching the top companies in the city you choose. It’ll be easier to find a job at a company that’s in growth mode and hiring en masse. The economy’s looking up in most cities, and there’s never been a better time since 2007, they report, to find your fortune as a working professional.