Read about how we selected the 2014 Best Cities for Job Growth
This year's rankings use five 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 MSAs employment. Only one MSA—Modesto, CA—changed size categories moving from “Small” to “Midsized.” In the instances where the analysis refers to changes in ranking order within the size categories, this MSAs changes are reported as if they had been included in their current category in the prior year.
| 2014 Rank Among Large Cities | Area | 2014 Weighted INDEX | 2013 Nonfarm Emplmt (1000s) | Size Mvmnt | 2013 Size Ranking |
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 94.2 | 982.2 | 6 | 7 |
| 2 | San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division | 94.1 | 1,087.8 | -1 | 1 |
| 3 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 87.0 | 881.1 | 7 | 10 |
| 4 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | 86.2 | 552.5 | 7 | 11 |
| 5 | Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX | 84.7 | 2,825.8 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | 82.3 | 822.8 | -4 | 2 |
| 7 | New York City, NY | 81.2 | 4,018.3 | 11 | 18 |
| 8 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 81.0 | 1,085.2 | 23 | 31 |
| 9 | Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metropolitan Division | 79.7 | 2,199.4 | -3 | 6 |
| 10 | Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO | 79.7 | 1,305.4 | -1 | 9 |
| 11 | Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Division | 79.6 | 931.3 | -7 | 4 |
| 12 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 79.0 | 913.1 | 0 | 12 |
| 13 | Salt Lake City, UT | 78.7 | 670.4 | -10 | 3 |
| 14 | Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC | 77.3 | 888.0 | -6 | 8 |
| 15 | Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division | 76.3 | 1,522.7 | -1 | 14 |
| 16 | Oklahoma City, OK | 75.2 | 616.8 | -1 | 15 |
| 17 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 75.0 | 1,254.7 | 28 | 45 |
| 18 | Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division | 74.6 | 1,081.8 | 19 | 37 |
| 19 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 71.4 | 1,049.3 | 22 | 41 |
| 20 | Columbus, OH | 71.0 | 984.0 | -7 | 13 |
| 21 | Jacksonville, FL | 70.9 | 620.0 | 11 | 32 |
| 22 | Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ | 69.7 | 1,849.2 | 17 | 39 |
| 23 | Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA NECTA Division | 67.6 | 1,782.5 | -6 | 17 |
| 24 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA | 67.3 | 2,435.7 | -2 | 22 |
| 25 | West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL Metropolitan Division | 67.2 | 551.7 | 15 | 40 |
| 26 | New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA | 66.1 | 550.8 | -3 | 23 |
| 27 | Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Metropolitan Division | 65.6 | 762.9 | 15 | 42 |
| 28 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 63.7 | 1,192.3 | 0 | 28 |
| 29 | Indianapolis-Carmel, IN | 63.6 | 938.9 | -13 | 16 |
| 30 | Honolulu, HI | 62.7 | 462.1 | -6 | 24 |
| 31 | Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division | 62.2 | 1,045.3 | 25 | 56 |
| 32 | San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA | 62.0 | 1,325.0 | -5 | 27 |
| 33 | Las Vegas-Paradise, NV | 61.6 | 862.0 | 17 | 50 |
| 34 | Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division | 58.7 | 1,473.5 | 4 | 38 |
| 35 | Northern Virginia, VA | 58.7 | 1,372.9 | -16 | 19 |
| 36 | Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN | 57.2 | 629.4 | -16 | 20 |
| 37 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division | 56.9 | 4,171.3 | 12 | 49 |
| 38 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division | 56.6 | 2,516.1 | -12 | 26 |
| 39 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 54.7 | 1,808.0 | -18 | 21 |
| 40 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | 54.3 | 478.8 | -6 | 34 |
| 41 | Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division | 54.0 | 1,145.8 | 7 | 48 |
| 42 | Richmond, VA | 53.9 | 637.6 | -17 | 25 |
| 43 | Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA | 50.5 | 872.5 | 14 | 57 |
| 44 | Nassau-Suffolk, NY Metropolitan Division | 49.9 | 1,281.6 | -15 | 29 |
| 45 | Edison-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division | 45.3 | 1,016.4 | -12 | 33 |
| 46 | Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN | 44.8 | 1,027.0 | 12 | 58 |
| 47 | Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL Metropolitan Division | 43.9 | 3,787.2 | 5 | 52 |
| 48 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA | 40.0 | 553.1 | -1 | 47 |
| 49 | Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division | 38.8 | 572.5 | -14 | 35 |
| 50 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 38.0 | 511.9 | 11 | 61 |
| 51 | Philadelphia City, PA | 38.0 | 671.2 | -5 | 46 |
| 52 | Pittsburgh, PA | 35.4 | 1,154.7 | -22 | 30 |
| 53 | Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ | 34.7 | 891.3 | 2 | 55 |
| 54 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 34.3 | 828.8 | 6 | 60 |
| 55 | Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA | 33.0 | 557.1 | 8 | 63 |
| 56 | Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY | 32.9 | 550.6 | -12 | 44 |
| 57 | Rochester, NY | 32.0 | 515.7 | -14 | 43 |
| 58 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 30.7 | 748.2 | -22 | 36 |
| 59 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 28.5 | 1,315.5 | 6 | 65 |
| 60 | Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division | 27.2 | 989.0 | 6 | 66 |
| 61 | Kansas City, MO | 27.1 | 555.2 | 1 | 62 |
| 62 | Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH | 26.3 | 1,023.8 | 2 | 64 |
| 63 | Putnam-Rockland-Westchester, NY | 25.8 | 563.2 | -4 | 59 |
| 64 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 25.1 | 608.8 | -11 | 53 |
| 65 | Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Division | 18.5 | 717.1 | -14 | 51 |
| 66 | Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division | 16.3 | 504.8 | -12 | 54 |
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