Mid Sized Cities Rankings - 2015 Best Cities for Job Growth

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.






2015  Rank Among Small Cities Area 2015 Weighted INDEX  2014 Nonfarm Emplymt (1000s)  Rank Change 2014 Size Ranking
1 Provo-Orem, UT 97.1       219.7 1 2
2 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 96.0       239.1 2 4
3 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO 89.1       227.8 7 10
4 North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL 84.2       276.7 16 20
5 Savannah, GA 83.8       168.1 6 11
6 Bakersfield, CA 82.6       261.7 0 6
7 Ogden-Clearfield, UT 82.6       234.7 15 22
8 Charleston-North Charleston, SC 81.8       324.3 9 17
9 Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC 77.0       394.4 4 13
10 Fresno, CA 76.1       319.2 4 14
11 Corpus Christi, TX 75.8       196.6 5 16
12 Santa Rosa, CA 73.7       193.7 12 24
13 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX 73.5       247.9 -4 9
14 Boulder, CO 73.3       178.3 -13 1
15 Boise City, ID 73.0       284.2 -7 8
16 Modesto, CA 71.4       163.0 9 25
17 Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA 71.1       180.0 18 35
18 Asheville, NC 70.8       181.4 1 19
19 Lexington-Fayette, KY 69.6       268.3 25 44
20 Stockton-Lodi, CA 68.8       212.1 10 30
21 Baton Rouge, LA 66.9       399.8 -9 12
22 Tacoma-Lakewood, WA Metro Div. 65.8       293.5 23 45
23 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL 64.7       166.6 26 49
24 Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA 63.1       345.7 -17 7
25 Madison, WI 60.3       386.9 1 26
26 Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX 60.2       168.8 65 91
27 Durham-Chapel Hill, NC 59.3       294.2 -9 18
28 Knoxville, TN 56.2       382.8 19 47
29 Springfield, MO 55.9       204.8 -14 15
30 Salem, OR 55.3       151.5 4 34
31 Worcester, MA-CT NECTA 53.7       277.1 32 63
32 Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC 53.4       228.2 40 72
33 Reno, NV 53.4       204.2 0 33
34 Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA 53.3       235.4 20 54
35 Tulsa, OK 53.1       445.6 -3 32
36 Lincoln, NE 52.8       185.7 -15 21
37 Colorado Springs, CO 52.3       263.9 0 37
38 Reading, PA 51.7       176.7 28 66
39 Columbia, SC 51.2       375.8 -3 36
40 Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL 50.8       184.6 6 46
41 Green Bay, WI 48.4       173.6 9 50
42 Lancaster, PA 48.4       240.5 23 65
43 Framingham, MA NECTA Div. 47.3       171.0 -15 28
44 Trenton, NJ 46.9       252.9 -21 23
45 Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metro Div. 46.5       352.1 -2 43
46 Tallahassee, FL 46.1       176.3 24 70
47 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA 46.0       295.6 4 51
48 Lafayette, LA 45.3       221.8 -43 5
49 Delaware County, PA 44.7       232.4  
50 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL 44.6       205.5 3 53
51 El Paso, TX 43.8       296.7 -24 27
52 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ 43.7       354.0 7 59
53 Evansville, IN-KY 43.4       157.9 16 69
54 Jackson, MS 42.9       273.3 24 78
55 Springfield, MA-CT NECTA 42.7       324.0 24 79
56 Huntsville, AL 41.6       217.9 -15 41
57 Chattanooga, TN-GA 40.4       242.1 10 67
58 New Haven, CT NECTA 39.9       282.4 -16 42
59 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT NECTA 38.0       409.4 -1 58
60 Elgin, IL Metro Div. 37.9       249.9  
61 Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Metro Div. 37.6       399.2 -30 31
62 Rockford, IL 37.1       150.9 25 87
63 Anchorage, AK 37.1       177.7 -25 38
64 Greensboro-High Point, NC 37.0       354.7 11 75
65 Fort Wayne, IN 36.7       212.9 -26 39
66 Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA 36.7       262.5 22 88
67 Ann Arbor, MI 36.6       211.3 -38 29
68 Winston-Salem, NC 36.0       255.2 -13 55
69 Canton-Massillon, OH 33.9       172.2 -17 52
70 Gary, IN Metro Div. 32.1       276.5 6 76
71 Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA 31.9       330.1 -23 48
72 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL 31.7       199.8 18 90
73 Roanoke, VA 30.9       161.4 4 77
74 Akron, OH 30.1       332.2 -18 56
75 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR 29.3       347.8 -15 60
76 Portland-South Portland, ME NECTA 29.2       193.8 -14 62
77 Lansing-East Lansing, MI 28.3       225.6 -37 40
78 Calvert-Charles-Prince George's, MD 28.2       387.7 -17 61
79 York-Hanover, PA 27.2       180.1 2 81
80 Baltimore City, MD 27.2       365.1 0 80
81 Dayton, OH 24.6       374.5 11 92
82 Tucson, AZ 24.5       370.8 -11 71
83 Wichita, KS 24.4       294.5 -10 73
84 Montgomery, AL 23.9       170.3 -16 68
85 Toledo, OH 23.8       298.3 -21 64
86 Albuquerque, NM 23.3       380.3 3 89
87 Peoria, IL 20.1       178.0 -1 86
88 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL 19.3       183.0 -4 84
89 Mobile, AL 19.3       174.8 -2 87
90 Syracuse, NY 17.8       318.1 -8 82
91 Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA 17.8       226.2 -8 83
92 Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS 15.5       152.0 52 144
93 Shreveport-Bossier City, LA 15.1       183.5 -8 85
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