Read about how we selected the 2013 Best Cities for Job Growth
View the interactive map
This year's rankings use four measures of growth to rank all 398 metro areas for which full data sets were available from the past 10 years. "Large" areas include those with a current nonfarm employment base of at least 450,000 jobs. "Midsize" areas range from 150,000 to 450,000 jobs. "Small" areas have as many as 150,000 jobs. This year’s rankings reflect the current size of each MSA’s employment. Only two MSAs changed size categories, with Honolulu, HI moving from “Midsized” to “Large” and Savannah, GA moving from “Small” to “Midsized.” In the instances where the analysis refers to changes in ranking order within the size categories, these two MSA’s changes are reported as if they had been included in their current category in the prior year.
| 2013 Rank Among Large Cities | Area | 2013 Weighted INDEX | 2012 Nonfarm Employment (1000s) | Size Movement | 2012 Size Ranking |
| 1 | San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division | 84.7 | 1016.2 | 16 | 17 |
| 2 | Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | 81.4 | 802.5 | 7 | 9 |
| 3 | Salt Lake City, UT | 81.1 | 656.3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Division | 80.5 | 915.0 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX | 79.2 | 2740.8 | -3 | 2 |
| 6 | Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metropolitan Division | 79.1 | 2156.0 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 78.1 | 918.5 | -2 | 5 |
| 8 | Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC | 77.1 | 865.8 | 11 | 19 |
| 9 | Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO | 75.6 | 1258.2 | 6 | 15 |
| 10 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 75.0 | 837.9 | -9 | 1 |
| 11 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | 74.5 | 526.6 | -4 | 7 |
| 12 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 71.4 | 883.8 | 8 | 20 |
| 13 | Columbus, OH | 71.0 | 957.3 | 9 | 22 |
| 14 | Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division | 70.8 | 1459.5 | 0 | 14 |
| 15 | Oklahoma City, OK | 70.7 | 600.0 | -5 | 10 |
| 16 | Indianapolis-Carmel, IN | 70.6 | 918.6 | 16 | 32 |
| 17 | Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA NECTA Division | 69.0 | 1745.5 | 12 | 29 |
| 18 | New York City, NY | 66.9 | 3908.8 | -7 | 11 |
| 19 | Northern Virginia, VA | 66.7 | 1364.8 | -7 | 12 |
| 20 | Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN | 66.3 | 618.5 | 5 | 25 |
| 21 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 65.7 | 1780.8 | 13 | 34 |
| 22 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA | 62.7 | 2381.0 | 9 | 31 |
| 23 | New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA | 62.4 | 535.0 | -10 | 13 |
| 24 | Honolulu, HI | 62.0 | 454.7 | 12 | 36 |
| 25 | Richmond, VA | 62.0 | 625.8 | 2 | 27 |
| 26 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division | 61.7 | 2485.6 | -10 | 16 |
| 27 | San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA | 61.1 | 1272.7 | 9 | 36 |
| 28 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 60.9 | 1174.4 | 5 | 33 |
| 29 | Nassau-Suffolk, NY Metropolitan Division | 60.6 | 1269.4 | -5 | 24 |
| 30 | Pittsburgh, PA | 60.1 | 1160.5 | -22 | 8 |
| 31 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 58.3 | 1052.4 | 10 | 41 |
| 32 | Jacksonville, FL | 57.5 | 606.5 | 7 | 39 |
| 33 | Edison-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division | 57.5 | 1007.2 | 18 | 51 |
| 34 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | 56.4 | 468.1 | -11 | 23 |
| 35 | Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division | 54.4 | 572.1 | 11 | 46 |
| 36 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 54.0 | 747.8 | 13 | 49 |
| 37 | Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division | 53.7 | 1037.7 | -16 | 21 |
| 38 | Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division | 53.1 | 1416.5 | 9 | 47 |
| 39 | Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ | 52.8 | 1793.0 | 6 | 45 |
| 40 | West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL Metropolitan Division | 52.4 | 528.5 | 15 | 55 |
| 41 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 52.4 | 1010.3 | -13 | 28 |
| 42 | Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Metropolitan Division | 51.7 | 743.2 | 10 | 52 |
| 43 | Rochester, NY | 50.2 | 513.9 | -25 | 18 |
| 44 | Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY | 48.9 | 548.2 | -9 | 35 |
| 45 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 48.7 | 1174.1 | 5 | 50 |
| 46 | Philadelphia City, PA | 48.1 | 663.8 | -4 | 42 |
| 47 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA | 47.7 | 547.7 | -17 | 30 |
| 48 | Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division | 46.2 | 1111.5 | -11 | 37 |
| 49 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division | 45.5 | 3912.7 | 10 | 59 |
| 50 | Las Vegas-Paradise, NV | 44.8 | 833.9 | 6 | 56 |
| 51 | Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Division | 44.5 | 715.4 | 11 | 62 |
| 52 | Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL Metropolitan Division | 44.1 | 3731.6 | -4 | 48 |
| 53 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 43.8 | 605.6 | -15 | 38 |
| 54 | Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division | 42.2 | 509.8 | 3 | 57 |
| 55 | Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ | 42.2 | 888.1 | -11 | 44 |
| 56 | Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division | 41.9 | 992.8 | 7 | 63 |
| 57 | Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA | 41.7 | 824.8 | 3 | 60 |
| 58 | Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN | 41.5 | 1000.1 | -18 | 40 |
| 59 | Putnam-Rockland-Westchester, NY | 39.0 | 562.3 | -33 | 26 |
| 60 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 37.3 | 822.5 | -6 | 54 |
| 61 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 37.2 | 501.1 | 4 | 65 |
| 62 | Kansas City, MO | 33.9 | 549.5 | -19 | 43 |
| 63 | Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA | 33.8 | 547.2 | 1 | 64 |
| 64 | Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH | 32.7 | 1015.9 | -3 | 61 |
| 65 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 31.7 | 1301.5 | -12 | 53 |
| 66 | Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division | 21.5 | 980.8 | -8 | 58 |
Email this Best
