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Dallas moves up in new rankings of best U.S. cities for job growth
This week Forbes released a new batch of cities primed for substantial job growth over the next three years. Naples, Florida, emerged victorious — dethroning Austin from its No. 1 spot — but Texas cities still dominate the list, occupying five of the 10 slots.
Austin stayed close to the top at No. 2, followed by McAllen (No. 3), Dallas (No. 5), Houston (No. 9) and San Antonio (No. 10). With a median household income of $58,431 and 5 percent unemployment rate, Dallas has an expected job growth rate of 3.8 percent. Big D jumped three spots from its No. 8 ranking last year.
Austin had the most impressive unemployment rate among the top 10 at 4.1 percent. McAllen, however, had the worst, at 8.6 percent, which means plenty of room to grow. All Texas cities on the list are expected to see an annual job growth rate of at least 3.5 percent through 2016.
Forbes lauded Florida's impressive turnaround since the recession but noted that Austin's rosy employment outlook can be attributed to a strong workforce and tech expansion.
"Companies flock to Austin to take advantage of the strong workforce options, which are continuously replenished by the University of Texas at Austin," the article reads. "People are moving to Austin to chase the jobs, as the metro boasts the third highest net migration rate in the U.S. over the last five years."
Although we can take pride in our 2014 rankings, last year Texas had seven of the top 10 cities for job growth.