Which Cities Are the Hottest Markets in the US?

Build a tech company, and they will come. Job opportunities fueled by the rise of tech giants and startup hopefuls are the main attraction for some of the hottest markets in America. Two cities top the list: Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tenn., according to a ranking by the Wall Street Journal that analyzed data from Moody’s Analytics. Along with other smaller name tech companies, Austin is also home to a new Apple Inc. campus, and Nashville boasts a campus from Amazon. The analysis looked at factors such as unemployment, job growth, wage growth, and labor-force participation rate. See if your city made the list.

The two hottest U.S. job markets in 2019 were growing Southern state capitals with vibrant music scenes and an influx of technology jobs.

Austin, Texas, topped the list for the second consecutive year, according to a Wall Street Journal ranking of new data collected by Moody’s Analytics. Nashville, Tenn., jumped to the No. 2 spot from seventh. Both cities anchor metropolitan areas of around two million people.

The Journal worked with Moody’s Analytics to assess the labor market in 381 metro areas. Each region was ranked on five metrics: the unemployment rate, labor-force participation rate, job growth, labor-force growth and wage growth.

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