Large Cities Ranking - 2009 New Geography Best Cities for Job Growth

Read how we pick the best cities.







2009
Size
Rank
Area
2009
Weighted
INDEX
2008 Nonfarm Emplymt (1000s)
Size 2009
Size
Movement
Overall Rank 2009
1 Austin-Round Rock, TX              87.7
778.5
L
1
6
2 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX              85.4
2,609.6
L
2
9
3 San Antonio, TX              82.0
849.8
L
4
20
4 Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Division              78.3
877.5
L
5
30
5 Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metropolitan Division              78.0
2,102.1
L
7
32
6 Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division              77.2
1,457.8
L
4
34
7 Salt Lake City, UT              76.5
640.2
L
-4
36
8 Raleigh-Cary, NC              74.6
513.5
L
-7
38
9 Oklahoma City, OK              72.9
576.8
L
21
44
10 Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA              70.0
1,020.8
L
1
55
11 Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA              66.8
468.2
L
21
72
12 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division              66.6
2,424.3
L
9
76
13 Northern Virginia, VA              65.0
1,305.5
L
4
84
14 New York City, NY              62.3
3,760.2
L
8
95
15 Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO              58.5
1,228.0
L
5
113
16 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA NECTA Division              56.1
1,696.4
L
21
118
17 Putnam-Rockland-Westchester, NY              55.7
579.9
L
14
121
18 Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC              55.5
841.5
L
-13
125
19 Honolulu, HI              54.0
451.5
L
-4
132
20 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA              53.6
902.9
L
13
134
21 Rochester, NY              53.2
518.1
L
40
137
22 Las Vegas-Paradise, NV              52.5
894.9
L
-14
142
23 San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division              51.6
982.3
L
6
144
24 Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, MD Metropolitan Division              51.5
573.0
L
27
145
25 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN              50.1
748.6
L
-7
153
26 Orlando-Kissimmee, FL              49.8
1,056.8
L
-20
154
27 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC              48.5
760.9
L
8
160
28 Kansas City, MO              48.3
564.1
L
8
164
29 Pittsburgh, PA              47.6
1,138.9
L
24
169
30 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY              47.1
548.3
L
30
174
31 Philadelphia City, PA              46.6
661.4
L
31
176
32 Columbus, OH              46.4
933.5
L
7
178
33 St. Louis, MO-IL              46.3
1,341.9
L
19
179
34 Nassau-Suffolk, NY Metropolitan Division              46.2
1,255.5
L
8
180
35 Indianapolis-Carmel, IN              44.3
898.5
L
-12
197
36 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA              44.2
552.7
L
4
199
37 Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN              42.7
611.0
L
-11
204
38 Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN              42.5
1,028.6
L
12
207
39 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA              42.4
1,283.4
L
7
208
40 Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division              41.6
1,039.3
L
-12
216
41 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA              41.6
2,374.1
L
-25
217
42 Richmond, VA              41.6
616.9
L
-17
218
43 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ              41.4
1,813.1
L
-29
223
44 Jacksonville, FL              40.9
609.9
L
-25
227
45 New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA              39.5
528.9
L
-32
234
46 Memphis, TN-MS-AR              39.2
628.4
L
-8
237
47 Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division              38.5
1,024.2
L
10
241
48 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI              38.3
1,754.4
L
0
242
49 Birmingham-Hoover, AL              37.9
518.7
L
-5
244
50 Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Metropolitan Division              37.2
759.8
L
-23
253
51 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI              37.0
837.3
L
3
254
52 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL Metropolitan Division              37.0
3,778.8
L
-3
255
53 Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ              36.5
897.2
L
5
258
54 Edison-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division              34.4
1,010.1
L
-7
269
55 Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division              32.9
526.7
L
-10
277
56 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division              32.6
4,008.1
L
0
279
57 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA              31.5
1,189.6
L
-33
283
58 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL              31.2
1,206.6
L
-15
285
59 Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division              29.4
1,093.9
L
6
294
60 Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA              28.8
863.2
L
-26
297
61 West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL Metropolitan Division              28.2
539.4
L
-20
301
62 Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division              27.1
1,011.6
L
-3
304
63 Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division              26.2
1,453.0
L
-8
306
64 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH              24.4
1,033.7
L
0
309
65 Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA              21.7
557.5
L
-2
318
66 Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Division                8.9
739.7
L
0
335
Subjects: