They may not be Silicon Valley in California or Silicon Alley in New York, but there’s certainly a trend within Glassdoor’s list of the “25 Best Cities for Jobs” — they lean toward tech. The industry has experienced a veritable boom in the last few years, with both recent graduates and career switchers competing for positions at Google, Apple, and the like. But with costs skyrocketing in tech capitals like Manhattan and San Francisco, companies are taking their offices elsewhere, creating new cities of opportunities. First on Glassdoor’s list? Raleigh, North Carolina.
The company ranked cities by equally weighting the following factors — how easy it is to get a job (hiring opportunity), how affordable it is to live there (cost of living), and how satisfied employees are working there (job satisfaction). Raleigh, which boasts a Glassdoor job score of 4.1, is calculated to have 24,146 job openings with a median base salary of $50,950 (the national median in 2013 was $28,031.02), a median home value of $198,400, and a job satisfaction rating of 3.3.
Raleigh has enjoyed an impressive tech boom over the last few years. Described by Forbes as a “magnet for technology companies,” the North Carolina city saw the second-highest overall growth in population and the third-highest spike in terms of job growth over the last 20 years in the U.S. Affordable housing and short commute times are no doubt highly attractive to recent college graduates and millennials looking to start families. In an interview with Fast Company, Glassdoor’s chief economist Andrew Chamberlain noted, “Raleigh has long held a reputation for tech companies looking to flee the expensive and congested Northeast corridor, with companies like IBM, Cisco, and SAS setting up shop in North Carolina.”
Austin and Seattle, which rank as Nos. 4 and 5 , respectively, on Glassdoor’s list, have also become hubs for startups and the tech industry as a whole, with relatively low living costs and lucrative employment opportunities making them attractive locations for many job seekers. Also making the top five were Kansas City, Missouri; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
So if you’re looking for a new job, considering a brand new city may be a good move as well.
