Huntsville ranked among top five best job markets in the U.S.
Over the past few weeks, various headlines spelled doom for employees across the nation.
General Motors of America and Stellantis laid off thousands of workers nation wide, which prompted intense push-back from current and ex-employees. A week prior, Google announced that it would be be cutting hundreds of jobs, and last week Reuters reported that employees at Amazon we disgruntled due to budget cuts and potential layoffs that seem only too inevitable.
Interest rates and higher prices on material goods have left many businesses scrambling their budgets heading into the final quarter of the year. From smaller businesses to larger corporations, companies are faced with the particularly hard decision regarding their employee’s job security.
These national trends prompted SmartAsset to compile a list of the best job markets currently available in the United States with the goal of promoting tangible data for employees and prospective job seekers to utilize when looking for a stable industry or location to work.
“In general, a good job market is one where a worker can make a comfortable and sustainable living, feel confident about their job security and enjoy a suitable work-life balance with important amenities like health insurance. Past performance in these areas – while not a guarantee of future results – can help inform job seekers on the probability of success they may find within a given job market,” said SmartAsset in their recent report.
SmartAsset examined employment rates, income, commute times, provided benefits, and affordability data for 340 cities across the United States for this survey.
The report found that Huntsville ranked as the top city in the United States for a stable and positive job market. SmartAsset reported that in Huntsville, with a current unemployment rake of around 3.8%, the median income sits right around $70,757.
In terms of affordability, Huntsville workers’ housing costs relative to income sits at 15.86%, which represents one of the lowest and most affordable markets in the nation.
What this means is that, while Huntsville’s real estate economy continues to see upwards trends, the city is still a relatively affordable place to live while offering some of the best pay. Huntsville’s unemployment rate, although equal to the national unemployment rate of 3.8% and well above the lowest rate on the charts compared to other cities, was much lower than the overall average rate of 6.9%.
SmartAsset also found that the commute time was around 19.2 minutes, with around 21.1% of the overall workforce still working remote. One of the most positive finds was that around 82% of employees in Huntsville have health insurance through their jobs, which represents a whopping 30% increase from 2019 numbers.
Overall, Huntsville continues to shine in national rankings for those both currently living or seeking to move to the growing Rocket City. While some headlines spell doom and gloom across the nation, for now Huntsville seems to be ever-moving into positive trends.
For more information or to view SmartAsset’s methodology for compiling the above data, please visit smartadvisormatch.com/data/best-job-markets-2023.