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The Best Cities For Future Job Growth

This article is more than 8 years old.

The U.S. economy reached a milestone last spring when employment surpassed its pre-recession peak set in January 2008. It was a long, slow recovery from the deepest recession since World War II. One of the hardest hit areas during the recession was Florida as the housing bubble burst, damaging one of Florida’s chief sectors in construction, and cash-strapped tourists cut back on vacations. But the Sunshine State has roared back and is expected to be among the leading states for job creation over the next few years.

Florida is home to six of the top 10 metro areas when it comes to the highest forecasted employment growth. Leading the way is retirement hot spot Naples with projected annual gains of 4.6% through 2017, according to Moody’s Analytics. “Areas like Naples are adding jobs at a faster rate because of the population growth among baby boomers,” says Moody’s Analytics economist Kwame Donaldson, who focuses on the Florida market.

Retirees fuel jobs in industries that service the local economy like construction, retail and healthcare. “These retirees are like permanent tourists,” says Donaldson. “You get all of the benefits of migration without many of the costs like competition for wages or strains on the justice and education systems.”

Net migration into Naples is the third highest rate in the U.S. over the past five years. Even with the population gains, unemployment has plummeted from a peak of 12.2% in 2010 to a recent 5%. Another Naples perk: the third lowest crime rate in the U.S.

Other Florida metros with a heavy retirement presence that rank among the areas with the best job forecasts include: Cape Coral (4.4%), Ocala (3.9%), Port St. Lucie (3.7%) and North Port (3.6%).

The other Florida metro in the top 10 is not dependent on retirees at all. Orlando is the youngest non-college town in Florida by median age. It is thriving thanks to tourism infrastructure being built up through mainly Universal and Disney. More than 60 million people visited the Orlando area last year, the most for any city in American history. Employment growth is projected to average 4.2% a year through 2017, according to Moody’s, which ranks No. 4 among the 200 largest metro areas. Moody’s Donaldson cautions that the strong job growth forecast for Orlando may not materialize thanks to the strong U.S. dollar which makes travelling from Asia and Europe more expensive.

Not all new jobs are created equal. Many of the new jobs in Florida are low-wage, service jobs. Construction workers, who typically get paid well nationally, earn less than the overall median salary in Florida. Median household incomes in the six Florida metros above are all less than $50,000 with the exception of Naples where it is a $54,000.

For high-paying, new employment opportunities, job-seekers should head west. San Jose, Calif. ranks No. 7 with a projected annual job growth rate of 3.8%. What separates San Jose from other places where jobs are being created are the salaries in the area. The median household income in the San Jose metro tops $95,000 and ranks third highest in the U.S. (Provo, Utah is the only other metro with a median income above $55,000 among the fastest job creators). Credit the booming high-tech market in the San Jose metro, which is home to iconic names like Apple , Cisco Systems , eBay and Intel .

Full list: The Best Cities for Future Job Growth

Complete Coverage: Best Places for Business and Careers

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