Job market rankings

Which cities and counties lead for junior jobs, AI skills, remote work, pay after the cost of living and job growth. Rebuilt every month (latest: November 2026) from open jobs we verify on employer career sites and from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census data. Every ranking shows its data, its method and its sources.

Applying and hearing nothing back?

Find out where you stand: your odds, the jobs that fit you and a plan for the week ahead. Free. No résumé needed.

Already a member? Log in

Get my Market Reality Assessment

The national rankings

Browse by topic

Each topic lists its rankings by region and state, with the city in first place for each.

Past months

Every edition stays online. Open a month to see all of its rankings, or open a ranking to see how it has moved.

How the rankings are made

Each ranking has a sample bar: a place is ranked only if enough openings sit behind its figure. Each page gives the formula, the sources and the data date, and older months stay online at their own addresses.

Our job data covers professional roles on the career sites of employers we track, so the rankings describe that market. They rank conditions we can measure, such as how many openings are entry-level or ask for AI skills, not how pleasant a place is to live or work.

The job market, once a week

One email every Tuesday with the week's most useful read on the job market and the search, plus occasional news from NextChapter. No account needed. Unsubscribe any time.

Run a workforce board, job center or economic development office, or hire in the places and industries on this list?

Leave your work email. We'll send how organizations use NextChapter to reach job seekers.

See how organizations use it