Top 5 Cities To Advance Your Career

Times are hard. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t looking to see our careers start, advance, and grow. Some places have been hit harder than others in the past few years of our rickety economy, and there’s an inequality present when we consider where careers are thriving the most.

Houston, for example, has an unemployment rate of 6.3 percent (as compared to the U.S. rate of 7.9%) and a wage growth rate of 3.9 percent, according to The Bureau of Labor Statistics and PayScale.com’s PayScale Index. The city also houses a wide variety of prospering industries like oil, gas, aeronautics, healthcare, and engineering. Its general population is also aging, which means not only are more people retiring, but also more people require healthcare.

Another Texan city, Dallas, has a matching unemployment rate of 6.3% and wage growth of 3.5%. Its major fields of employment are telecommunications, defense, and technology.

Hitting up the east coast is Boston, Massachusetts. The dense city is not only home to Harvard University, but also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country: 5.9 percent. Wage growth sits at 3.3% in the eclectic and historical city. Healthcare, engineering, biotech, and finance are hot careers, many jobs provided by the several nearby colleges and universities.

Minneapolis is also a good place to advance your career, particularly in the areas of manufacturing, electronics production, medical equipment, machinery, and business. Its wage growth rate is 3.2% and unemployment is a stunning 5.3%. That’s almost three percent lower than the national average.

If you’re into technology, Seattle may be your final destination. It’s home to tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon, and houses several gaming corporations (like Nintendo, Valve, and Big Fish), and even has a Google campus. Wage growth is 3.1% and unemployment is at 7.3%, but if you’re a specialist in technology, the pay rate is high. IT, aerospace, and software development dominate the Emerald City that is perhaps best known for its overly caffeinated general public.