[US] America’s 10 employment “boomtowns”

14 Jan 2020

Following extensive data analysis of 500 largest US cities by financial advice website SmartAsset, CNBC summarises their findings to pinpoint the top ten American “boomtowns” - cities where jobs are plentiful and both populations and salaries on the rise.

In its search for these “boomtowns”, SmartAsset analyzed data for the 500 largest US cities. The site’s ranking system reportedly took seven metrics into account: population change, GDP growth rate, business growth rate, unemployment rate, number of jobs created, housing growth and change in household income.

SmartAsset reportedly considered data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns Survey and the US Census Bureau’s 2014 and 2018 1-year American Community Surveys.

Southern cities are well represented in the top ten, Texas and South Carolina hold several places. Among all the “boomtowns” a handful had exceptional results. Greeley, Colorado, stood out for its population growth by expanding twice as fast as the average of all the other cities surveyed. New Braunfels, Texas, added 41 per cent more housing units from 2014-2018. As a result, its population increased by 30 per cent. And the number of businesses in Round Rock, Texas, grew by over 20 per cent.

Here are the cities who made it to the top ten “boomtowns” list and the stats that got them there:

10. Round Rock, Texas

Population change 2014-2018 - 14.52 per cent
Housing growth 2014-2018 - 18.57 per cent
Household income growth 2014-2018 - 13.96 per cent

9. North Charleston, South Carolina

Population change 2014-2018 - 10.41 per cent
Housing growth 2014-2018 - 9.36 per cent
Household income growth 2014-2018 - 21.71 per cent

8. Charleston, South Carolina

Population change 2014-2018 - 7.91 per cent
Housing growth 2014-2018 - 11.51 per cent
Household income growth 2014-2018 - 25.13 per cent

7. Denver, Colorado

Population change 2014-2018 - 7.93 per cent
Housing growth 2014-2018 - 10.71 per cent
Household income growth 2014-2018 - 24.46 per cent

6. New Braunfels, Texas

Population change 2014-2018 - 30.21 per cent
Housing growth 2014-2018 - 41.47 per cent
Household income growth 2014-2018 - 16.6 per cent

5. Greeley, Colorado

Population change 2014-2018 - 8.88 per cent
Housing growth 2014-2018 - 14.63 per cent
Household income growth 2014-2018 - 18.81 per cent

4. Miami, Florida

Population change 2014-2018 - 9.43 per cent
Housing growth 2014-2018 - 10.11 per cent
Household income growth 2014-2018 - 31.02 per cent

3. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Population change 2014-2018 - 14.85 per cent
Housing growth 2014-2018 - 16.28 per cent
Household income growth 2014-2018 - 23.94 per cent

2. Denton, Texas

Population change 2014-2018 - 8.08 per cent
Housing growth 2014-2018 - 13.42 per cent
Household income growth 2014-2018 - 36.21 per cent

1. Longmont, Colorado

Population change 2014-2018 - 6.43 per cent
Housing growth 2014-2018 - 17.61 per cent
Household income growth 2014-2018 - 29.16 per cent

Source: CNBC