With the unemployment rate at a 17-year low and employers expecting to hire 4 percent more college graduates from the Class of 2018 than from the previous graduating cohort, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2018’s Best Places to Find a Job.

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To determine the strongest local job markets in the U.S., WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 26 key metrics. The data set ranges from job opportunities to employment growth to monthly average starting salary and our very own Portland, Maine made the Top 10.

Best Cities for Jobs Worst Cities for Jobs
1Chandler, AZ 173Mobile, AL 
2Scottsdale, AZ 174Montgomery, AL 
3San Francisco, CA 175Fresno, CA 
4Peoria, AZ 176Hialeah, FL 
5Gilbert, AZ 177New Orleans, LA 
6Plano, TX 178Birmingham, AL 
7Portland, ME 179Columbus, GA 
8Irvine, CA 180Newark, NJ 
9Madison, WI 181Detroit, MI 
10Boston, MA 182Shreveport, LA 

Best vs. Worst

  • Columbia, Maryland has the highest median annual household income (adjusted by cost of living), $89,013, which is 3.4 times higher than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the lowest at $26,352.
  • San Jose, California has the highest monthly average starting salary (adjusted by cost of living), $5,441, which is 3.1 times higher than in Brownsville, Texas, the city with the lowest at $1,778.
  • South Burlington, Vermont, the city with the lowest unemployment rate, 2.1 percent, which is 5.2 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 10.9 percent.
  • Plano, Texas, the city with the fewest number of part-time employees for every 100 full-time employees, 37.63, which is 3.6 times fewer than in Burlington, Vermont, the city with the most at 134.34.
  • South Burlington, Vermont is the city with the lowest share of workers living in poverty, 1.90 percent, which is 10.1 times lower than in Tallahassee, Florida, the city with the highest at 19.28 percent.

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-for-jobs/2173/

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