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Top 25 Cities for Your Career
Photo: Franco Folini | CreativeCommons
Anna Hennings, Tania Khadder, Adam Starr, Alice Handley | Excelle
Now more than ever, it’s important to get the best bang for your buck. And there’s no question about it — when it comes to value, not every U.S. city is created equally.
Why chase a great salary if your rent swallows most of it, unemployment is skyrocketing and you spend two hours a day just to get to and from work?
So, which cities offer the most overall value in 2009?
Excelle has come up with the top 25 — and some may surprise you! After examining various city lists, weighing the rankings and taking note of our personal opinions, we’ve produced a list of cities that’s sure to offer something for everyone.
Our Criteria
We looked at cities' growth rates, average salaries and costs of living.
We factored in average commute time — which, according to experts, has a colossal impact on your overall happiness.
We looked not only at unemployment figures, but also at the rate that unemployment has actually increased since February 2008.
Thinking of relocating for better job prospects? Need to compare two top contenders? Just curious to see where your city ranks? We’ve got you covered. Read on!
Start Here! City #25 >>
enmayhugh
about 12 hours ago
2 comments
Moving from #not-on-the-list to #6! Hopefully that means good things!
VioletNat
13 days ago
2 comments
You've done a nice research. Though I think that few people will move to another city because of a better job. Usually we are tied to the home place. But for the risky students it can be of great help. Besides, to find more information you may use pdf files search engine http://pdf.rapid4me.com . I like it because in PDF format there is only essential information.
Beth1964
2 months ago
26 comments
Dallas didn't make this list, but the hard number statistics would put Dallas, TX close to the top. Unemployment is a big concern now and Dallas ranks on the lower end of unemployment. Housing forclosers are a concern and Dallas ranks at the low end here also. Fortune 100s are relocating to Dallas, TX so job oppertunties are increasing. Now I can't say we have the best beach nor (my criteria) the the best hiking trails (also my critieria), but if you are concerned about career growth & opportunity, minimum taxes and retaining the value on your home (the things we are most concerned with in 2009)....Dallas, TX should be somewhere on the list.
metot
2 months ago
470 comments
Great article:)
sjennings
5 months ago
2 comments
Pete1967 you are correct - this article is not based on reality. I live in Charlotte (#15 on the list) and the housing cost in a decent area is no different than the national average, but the cost of living is more - utilities, groceries, gas (one of the highest taxed in the country), etc are all above the national average. When I talk to friends and family in other metro cities they are paying less (sometimes half) for cost of living items than we pay here. The road systems here are horrible - it can take 1-2 hours for my drive to work during rush-hour and it's a 25 minute drive otherwise. Thousands of new homes are approved and built each year with zero improvements to the two lane road systems that thousands of new residence now occupy - hence miles of backups each day. Roads are the number one complaint in this area and our city does next to nothing to improve them. Folks move into Charlotte by the thousands each year only to move out to the surrounding counties within a couple years because the tax rates increase annually. (Our local government's answer to all the problems here is to raise taxes.) Oh, and did you see the special on cable TV about the rise of gangs in the Charlotte region? Our police department denied that we had a gang problem for more than 10 years only to finally admit it when they could no longer conceal it. Yes, the crime rate here is pretty high and most of the criminals are let back out on the street repeatedly. Rather than dealing with criminals according to the law, the NC government has a policy in place that they release a certain percentage of criminals each year because of overcrowding in prisons. Those released include those with rap sheets of one to two dozen incidences. Often when a murder is committed here it is by someone who has been in and out of jail at least 12+ times. We have a lot of folks move into Charlotte from other larger cities like New York City, Atlanta... and they consider the problems here to be minimal compare to where they came from and understandably so. But I've lived here for nearly 20 years and have watched Charlotte change from a nice city to a larger metro city that is no different than all the other large metro cities in the country - we've got the same problems and in some cases more - in large part because of our city/county/state government. They cover-up (and a lot of times create) the problems we have here because they want to keep the image clean to attract more businesses and residents to the area. It's really sad because Charlotte and North Carolina are beautiful places to live, but what they have and are becoming makes them a less desireable location.
Oh, and Rochester (#3 on the list)!? New Yorkers are vacating Rochester and other NY cities in droves because they can't afford the taxes and cost of living up there. (The majority of them are coming down here to NC.) Come on - you must have been dreaming when you created this list!
getmeoutofny
5 months ago
2 comments
How were the criteria for cost of living calculated? I live in Rochester (#3 col) and near Buffalo (#1 col) and I can tell you from personal experience that taxes in New York will wipe out any perceived benefit of low cost of living. Housing is cheap but property and income taxes plus the numerous fees NY charges for every little thing totally eclipse any cost of living benefit measured in this article. A nice house may go for $150K but the taxes are $6K/ year plus 9% state income tax + 9% sales tax, high grocery prices, high gas prices, high gas taxes, high heating and electricity cost for the long winters. There is a major exodus from NY because most people are voting with their feet because voting at the poles has done little to reduce the overwhelming tax burden on all NY citizens.
jhayward
6 months ago
28 comments
I know Tracy! I'm from New York and I live in San Francisco...and I've flip flopped between the two my whole life!
tlboyd
6 months ago
2 comments
Why do I always gravatate to the high cost of living cities?
MagnoliaElectric
6 months ago
10 comments
Great snapshots of each city from a career-seeking standpoint. Useful info! Thanks!
sarahstapleton
6 months ago
2 comments
Nice job excelle is on the front page of www.yahoo.com right now!
jhayward
6 months ago
28 comments
I think in times like now, this is GREAT information. Thanks excelle!
ImBossay
6 months ago
104 comments
Interesting article. I wouldn't think to add commute time, but that definitely influences my career-happiness.
kbtordai
6 months ago
708 comments
Very interesting! Thanks! I live in Michigan, so moving away may be an option I will have to look at in the near future - this was informative and very helpful!
Pete1967
6 months ago
2 comments
North Carolina is not an employee friendly state. Employers treat employees poorly and there is not much an employee can do about it unless the employer is discriminating; however, discrimination is extremely hard to prove. The benefits are expensive, they are not comprehensive, copayments are high, and the cost to employees prohibits many workers from being able to afford them. Company sponsored retirement plans and employer contributions to 401k plans are becoming much less common. Working for the government used to be highly desirable and the jobs were difficult to get because the salary was fair and the benefits were excellent, today it is almost the complete opposite. There are so many vacancies in the state system, they can not fill them all. The benefits continue shrink as does the average salary for State workers. Don't believe me, just do a quick "Google" for the problems workers face in North Carolina and see what you come up with. Articles like this one do not, by far, are not based on the reality of actually living in areas such as Charlotte, Cary, and Raleigh, NC for instance.
sherrylowry
6 months ago
2 comments
What great news for all those in Texas! Even though we have MORE than enough new folk coming every day - it still feels good to welcome those who want to give Texas a chance - especially Austin and San Antonio's slice of CENTRAL Texas. Thanks so much for publishing this list
- Sherry Lowry in Austin Texas USA