See also: Photos: 28 Colorado Businesses on Outside's 100 Best Places to Work List for 2014
Number 10: St. Paul, Minnesota St. Paul holds many of the same economic characteristics that make its Twin City Minneapolis so attractive to job seekers -- low unemployment, high affordability and a working-age population growth rate that's higher than the national average.... Number 9: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City, the state's largest city and capital, earns a spot on our list for its 3.9 percent unemployment rate, the 9.31 percent growth in its working-age population and the low median rent of $747 a month. Top employers include Tinker Air Force Base, a Federal Aviation Administration aeronautical center, Hobby Lobby Stores and Chesapeake Energy Corp.... Continue to keep counting down the ten best cities for job seekers. Number 8: Portland, Oregon Portland's eclectic mix of microbreweries, local businesses and liberal-minded population have helped give it the unofficial slogan "Keep Portland Weird." The city's workers earn about $49,616, the highest median income of our top 10, but it's offset by a higher rent, about $956 a month.... Number 7: Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro's working-age population is growing quickly, at a rate of 11.17 percent from 2009 to 2013. The city's largest employers include Cone Health, the U.S. Postal Service and Harris Teeter, a supermarket company.... Continue to keep counting down the ten best cities for job seekers. Number 6: Austin, Texas Texas' capital made our list for its 12.47% working-age population growth and a low jobless rate of 4%. The city thrives in advanced manufacturing, clean energy and life sciences, and has earned the nickname "Silicon Hills" for its growing technology industry.... Number 5: Denver, Colorado The Mile High City scored better than the national averages in all three metrics we analyzed. Residents here make about $45,242 a year, which is the third highest in our top 10.... Continue to keep counting down the ten best cities for job seekers. Number 4: Minneapolis, Minnesota The larger of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis is home to several Fortune 500 companies including Target, U.S. Bancorp, Xcel Energy and Ameriprise Financial. Residents here earn the second-highest median income in our top 10: $45,640 a year.... Number 3: Columbus, Ohio Ohio's state capital makes our list for its low unemployment rate and the relatively affordable median monthly rent of $809. The city's top employers include the federal government, Wal-Mart, Kroger, Ohio State University and JPMorgan Chase & Co.... Continue to keep counting down the ten best cities for job seekers. 2. Fort Worth, Texas Just 30 miles west of Dallas, Fort Worth has a rapidly growing working-age population, with a 10 percent growth rate from 2009 to 2013. More than 22,000 of those employees work for AMR Corp. and American Airlines.... Number 1: Lincoln, Nebraska This Midwest city tops our list largely because it has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. With a median of $722 a month for rent, Lincoln residents pay the least for housing compared with people living in our other top 10 cities....Methodology:
1. Job availability: We looked at the October 2014 unemployment rates for U.S. metro areas based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A lower unemployment rate increased a city's overall score.
2. Workforce growth: We considered cities' working-age population growth rate from 2009 to 2013 with data from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey. A higher growth rate increased a city's overall score.
3. Affordability: We included median income for full-time workers and median gross monthly rent to determine if a city is affordable. The data for both metrics also came from the American Community Survey. A higher median income and a low median monthly rent increased a city's overall score.
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