Austin #1 for Job Seekers.....says Nerdwallet.com

Austin ranks No. 1 city for U.S. job-seekers; Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth follow suit

 By Arden Ward

01.28.13 | 01:14 pm

Nerdwallet.com has good news for Texas job seekers. The organization's blog recently announced its list of the "Best Cities for Job Seekers," which features five Texas locales in the top 10.
Austin topped the list at No. 1., followed by No. 5 Houston, No. 6 Fort Worth, No. 7 Dallas and No. 9 San Antonio. NerdWallet ranked the "fastest-growing cities for those seeking employment," using the following criteria: population growth, income, unemployment rate and the cost of living.
With the highest percentage of population growth and lowest unemployment rate, NerdWallet deemed the Capital City a "clear winner":

With the highest percent growth in population and the lowest unemployment rate, Austin is a clear winner as the best choice for job-seekers. The median income is moderately high, and the cost of living is low. Job-seekers should check out this fast-growing city, particularly for jobs in the burgeoning tech industry. Large tech companies such as Dell and IBM are headquartered there, and companies like Apple and Google have offices there as well. Biotechnology is a growing field in Austin as well.

According to the study, Austin saw a 3.8 percent change in population and has a 6.2 percent unemployment rate. Those statistics, along with a median income of $31,170, median 2-bedroom apartment rent cost of $968, and cost of living index of 94.9, gave Austin an overall score of 85.2.
The top 10 Best Cities for Job-Seekers, listed with their overall scores, is as follows:

1. Austin, TX: 85.2
2. Washington, DC: 80.8
3. San Francisco, CA: 78.3
4. Denver, CO: 74.4
5. Houston, TX: 70.8
6. Fort Worth, TX: 69.9
7. Dallas, TX: 69.2
8. Seattle, WA: 69.1
9. San Antonio, TX: 68.5
10. Charlotte, NC: 64.8