Read about how we selected the 2015 Best Cities for Job Growth
We used five measures of growth to rank MSAs over 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 new Office of Management and Budget definitions of MSAs for all series released after March 2015. As a result, the MSA listed in this year’s rankings do not necessary correspond directly to those listed in prior years. In some instances, MSAs were consolidated with others — for example Pascagoula, MS, was combined with the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, MSA to form the new Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS, MSA. Others were separated from previously consolidated MSAs and in still other instances individual counties were shifted from one MSA to another. The bottom line is that this year’s rankings are based on good time series for the newly defined MSAs but may not be precisely comparable to those listed in prior years. The total number of MSAs included in this year’s rankings has risen from 398 to 421. This year’s rankings reflect the current size of each MSA’s employment.
| 2014 MSA Info Ranking - LARGE MSAs | Area | 2015 Weighted INDEX | 2014 Nonfarm Emplymt (1000s) | 2014 Info Emplymt | Total Information Emplymt Cum Growth 2009-2014 | 2015 Change from 2014 - Large MSAs |
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 98.2 | 1,031.5 | 70.9 | 60.2% | 0 |
| 2 | San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA Met Div | 97.2 | 1,034.2 | 55.8 | 51.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Austin-Round Rock, TX | 91.9 | 924.9 | 25.8 | 30.8% | (1) |
| 4 | Raleigh, NC | 86.1 | 571.5 | 19.0 | 13.8% | 7 |
| 5 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 85.3 | 1,085.8 | 25.1 | 12.7% | 12 |
| 6 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 81.1 | 1,900.0 | 34.6 | 25.2% | (2) |
| 7 | New York City, NY | 79.1 | 4,165.9 | 185.2 | 13.0% | (2) |
| 8 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 78.7 | 960.3 | 21.8 | 17.0% | (1) |
| 9 | Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Met Div | 78.4 | 1,575.6 | 91.8 | 9.2% | 1 |
| 10 | Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Met Div | 76.2 | 1,182.7 | 20.7 | 7.1% | 10 |
| 11 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 76.1 | 896.8 | 10.3 | 11.2% | 15 |
| 12 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 75.5 | 2,551.7 | 88.3 | 12.7% | 4 |
| 13 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 74.1 | 1,090.5 | 24.1 | 5.9% | 1 |
| 14 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Div | 72.7 | 1,742.0 | 55.9 | 5.1% | (8) |
| 15 | Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Met Div | 72.6 | 796.1 | 19.0 | 15.6% | 0 |
| 16 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 71.1 | 1,135.7 | 24.5 | 2.5% | 6 |
| 17 | West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL Met Div | 70.8 | 576.2 | 10.2 | 13.0% | 7 |
| 18 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | 70.1 | 1,006.9 | 16.8 | 6.3% | (5) |
| 19 | Salt Lake City, UT | 69.8 | 666.2 | 18.5 | 12.6% | (10) |
| 20 | Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Met Div | 67.0 | 1,114.8 | 19.2 | 7.1% | 14 |
| 21 | Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | 67.0 | 892.0 | 20.8 | 4.5% | (2) |
| 22 | Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, NJ | 66.7 | 895.1 | 19.3 | -0.3% | 32 |
| 23 | Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Met Div | 66.3 | 2,346.3 | 68.8 | 2.8% | (2) |
| 24 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 64.5 | 642.4 | 9.4 | 0.0% | 3 |
| 25 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA | 63.4 | 571.3 | 11.4 | 0.3% | 3 |
| 26 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 63.0 | 1,314.3 | 29.0 | -2.9% | (1) |
| 27 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI | 62.6 | 521.2 | 5.3 | 2.6% | (4) |
| 28 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Met Div | 61.4 | 4,295.6 | 197.6 | 3.5% | (16) |
| 29 | Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL Met Div | 60.7 | 3,597.7 | 71.3 | 0.4% | 4 |
| 30 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | 59.0 | 1,364.0 | 43.8 | -0.1% | 1 |
| 31 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | 57.8 | 566.2 | 8.4 | 29.4% | (13) |
| 32 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 56.0 | 1,903.7 | 39.6 | -2.1% | (3) |
| 33 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 55.5 | 2,973.6 | 32.7 | -3.2% | (10) |
| 34 | Middlesex-Monmouth-Ocean, NJ | 53.2 | 845.9 | 17.5 | -3.7% | not ranked |
| 35 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY | 52.9 | 556.7 | 7.6 | -5.4% | 5 |
| 36 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 52.1 | 1,224.2 | 25.7 | -2.4% | 1 |
| 37 | San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | 51.8 | 1,372.3 | 24.8 | -4.6% | 16 |
| 38 | Philadelphia City, PA | 51.6 | 684.3 | 11.5 | -7.0% | 3 |
| 39 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 51.1 | 1,047.8 | 13.5 | -5.4% | (7) |
| 40 | Columbus, OH | 50.5 | 1,028.2 | 17.0 | 1.6% | (32) |
| 41 | Northern Virginia, VA | 50.2 | 1,388.0 | 41.3 | -4.1% | 10 |
| 42 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 48.4 | 622.5 | 6.1 | -7.1% | 3 |
| 43 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Met Div | 47.9 | 2,560.7 | 63.0 | -3.9% | 6 |
| 44 | Pittsburgh, PA | 47.1 | 1,164.6 | 18.3 | -6.3% | (6) |
| 45 | Camden, NJ Met Div | 46.6 | 515.3 | 7.2 | -6.9% | 20 |
| 46 | Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD Met Div | 46.6 | 576.2 | 13.4 | -8.4% | 10 |
| 47 | Rochester, NY | 46.1 | 527.8 | 8.9 | -8.9% | 16 |
| 48 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA | 46.1 | 568.7 | 10.1 | -9.0% | 4 |
| 49 | Jacksonville, FL | 43.6 | 633.5 | 9.1 | -11.1% | (6) |
| 50 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 40.7 | 845.7 | 14.4 | -11.1% | (4) |
| 51 | Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, CA Met Div | 39.3 | 1,524.2 | 23.9 | -7.3% | (21) |
| 52 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | 38.7 | 1,038.2 | 14.5 | -9.9% | (10) |
| 53 | Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley, CA Met Div | 37.6 | 1,081.5 | 21.3 | -13.6% | 9 |
| 54 | Richmond, VA | 37.4 | 638.1 | 7.9 | -17.8% | 6 |
| 55 | Kansas City, MO | 36.8 | 571.7 | 14.5 | -13.0% | 3 |
| 56 | Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County, PA Met Div | 36.2 | 1,024.8 | 20.6 | -14.3% | not ranked |
| 57 | Oklahoma City, OK | 34.1 | 625.8 | 8.3 | -18.6% | 9 |
| 58 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 33.5 | 753.9 | 11.0 | -13.9% | 1 |
| 59 | Newark, NJ-PA Met Div | 32.8 | 1,188.1 | 24.2 | -13.3% | (2) |
| 60 | Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI Met Div | 32.4 | 734.4 | 7.0 | -12.8% | (21) |
| 61 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 28.1 | 1,319.1 | 11.1 | -20.7% | (13) |
| 62 | Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Met Div | 27.9 | 993.0 | 13.0 | -14.9% | (7) |
| 63 | Orange-Rockland-Westchester, NY | 23.9 | 688.8 | 13.2 | -16.8% | not ranked |
| 64 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 23.7 | 516.4 | 8.2 | -16.9% | (14) |
| 65 | Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY Met Div | 22.8 | 1,292.3 | 21.4 | -18.7% | (21) |
| 66 | Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA | 19.5 | 902.1 | 13.6 | -24.0% | (2) |
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