Despite rising inflation and recent stock market instability, it’s still a job seeker’s market. There are roughly 11 million job openings available nationwide as of May 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). For the same month, there were 6.5 million hires. Data from June 2022 shows a 4% increase in the percentage of people who voluntarily left their jobs compared with one year ago.

With rising costs of living and a nationwide climate that is responding to the pandemic’s impact, some markets are better for those seeking new opportunities or looking to grow their careers. We sought to understand where job seekers have the best access to career opportunities.

To do this, SmartAsset looked at data for the largest 200 metro areas across nine metrics on topics such as employment, earnings, housing costs and access to career guidance. Key findings include:

Midwestern metro areas make up half of the top 10. Specifically, two Indiana metro areas (Lafayette-West Lafayette and Fort Wayne), two Ohio metro areas (Dayton and Toledo) and one Iowa metro area (Cedar Rapids) placed in the top 10. Job opportunities in these areas are diverse and median annual housing costs are relatively low.
In some areas, average earnings for professionals can increase by more than 20% throughout their career. The Champaign-Urbana, Illinois metro area ranks highest for this metric at 41%. More specifically, in this metro area, workers between the ages of 25 and 44 earn $57,437, while those aged 45 to 64 earn $81,300. Income growth between these two age groups of workers exceeds 20% in 23 additional metro areas that we studied.
On average, across the study, median earnings rose by 8% between 2019 and 2021. The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California metro area has the highest two-year earnings change (21.83%). Of the 200 metro areas in this study, three metro areas experienced a decline in earnings: two in Connecticut and one in Texas.

SmartAsset also totalized the data and compiled a list of the top-ten cities for job opportunities. Huntsville ranked second.

Huntsville, Alabama ranks in the top 10 metro areas for two metrics. It has the fifth-lowest May 2022 unemployment rate (1.9%) and ranks seventh-highest for income growth between professionals aged 25 to 44 and those aged 45 to 64 (25.85%). Additionally, overall median earnings for workers in the metro area increased by roughly 15% over a two-year period ending in 2021.

Tuscaloosa also landed a top ten spot, coming in fourth for its May 2022 unemployment rate of 2.5%.

Screen Shot 2022 08 17 at 12.38.38 Tuscaloosa, Alabama also had a one-year change in total employment of 4.10% and has the 27th-lowest annual housing costs, average around $10,152. For professional guidance, workers have access to roughly three career counselors for every 1,000 workers (ranking 24th-highest).

Other metros in the top ten include Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN; Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY; Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA; Cedar Rapids, IA; Dayton, OH; Salt Lake City, UT; Fort Wayne, IN; and Toledo, OH.

To totalize the above list, SmartAsset analyzed data for 200 of the largest U.S. metro areas across the following nine metrics:

May 2022 unemployment rate. Data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
One-year change in total employment. This is the percentage change in total employment between May 2021 and May 2022. Data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Median earnings. This is the annual median earnings of all workers. Data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is for 2021.
Income growth over career. This is the percentage change in median income for households where the head of household was between the ages of 25 and 44 compared to those where the head of household was between 54 and 64. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2020 5-year American Community Survey.
Two-year earnings change. This is the percentage change in individual earnings over a two-year period. Data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is for 2019 and 2021.
Annual median housing costs. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2020 5-year American Community Survey.
Number of career counselors per 1,000 workers. Data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is for 2021.
Number of post-secondary teachers per 1,000 workers. Data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is for 2021.
Job diversity. This measures the variety of industries available in a city. We used the Shannon index to calculate this figure. A higher number indicates a more diverse job market. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2020 5-year American Community Survey.

SmartAsset ranked each metro area in every metric, giving an equal weighting to all but four metrics: two-year earnings change from 2019 to 2021, income growth over career, number of career counselors and number of post-secondary teachers per 1,000 workers, each of which was given a half weight.

The company then found each metro area’s average ranking. The metro area with the best average ranking places first in our study while the area with the lowest average ranking places last.

To read the full report, please visit here.

Editor’s note: this is a guest post written by Anja Solum. To read more about Anja’s work, please visit her biography page on SmartAssets website here. Images provided by SmartAsset and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.