In the United States, there are currently over 7.3 million open jobs. And yet, as anyone familiar with the job market will tell you, the types of positions available to job seekers are often highly dependent on where they’re located.

Here at Moneypenny, we are invested in helping match business services to customer need – whether it be boosting customer service capabilities through our live chat and phone answering services, or providing insight on the job market through our research capabilities. Our services are available across the world, and are continuing to expand in the United States – so we were wondering, what exactly does the job market look like in major cities in the United States?

We conducted a study utilizing LinkedIn data to determine what industries are hiring most in various big cities across the U.S., based on the number of open job postings in each major industry sector. We broke down our findings by city and industry, and pulled out some unexpected findings. Read on to learn more.

What we did

Using LinkedIn’s job search database, we determined the number of open jobs in the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. LinkedIn allows companies to filter their job postings by standardized industry titles such as Hospital and Health Care, Retail, and Legal.

In each city, we then utilized LinkedIn’s industry filter option to search for the amount of open jobs within specific industries – starting with a list of the most common industries in the U.S.. LinkedIn’s filters also auto-populate with the most popular industries in the area you are searching, which helped us diversify our list.

The Industry Hiring the Most in Each City

Our research shows that the industry hiring the most in each major U.S. city is the Hospital and Health Care industry. Ranging from over 6,000 open jobs in Buffalo, NY to over 100,000 open jobs in New York, NY, this industry is a robust and promising one for potential job seekers across the country. The only cities showing other top industries are Baltimore, MD (IT and Services), Las Vegas, NV (Retail), San Francisco, CA (IT and Services), and Washington, DC (IT and Services).

But, these results are expected because, as human populations grow, more healthcare professionals are needed to care for them. That’s why we decided to dig a little deeper to determine what industries are hiring the second most in each city, to hopefully learn a little bit more about what unique industries are thriving and where.

Besides the Hospital and Health Care industry, our research demonstrates that the industries hiring the most in major U.S. cities include Information Services & Technology, Construction, and Retail in the highest concentrations. Perhaps a large number of Construction jobs in cities such as Houston, TX, Indianapolis, IN, and Virginia Beach, VA, indicate cities in the process of major growth. We were also fascinated to see the prominence of retail industry jobs given the “retail apocalypse” of the last few years – but it seems this industry remains in high demand of workers.

Some uniquely popular industries include Transportation/Trucking/Railroad in Memphis, TN, Computer Software in San Jose, CA and Washington, DC and Health, Wellness and Fitness in St. Louis, MO and Richmond, VA.

Now, we are going to dive into some industries we often support.

The Cities with the Most Open Legal Jobs

Moneypenny supports the legal industry’s need for reliable, efficient client interaction, so we remain invested in the field’s growth. The cities with the most open legal jobs in the United States include New York, NY, Washington, DC and San Francisco, CA, in the top three spots. Boston, MA, Los Angeles, CA, Chicago, IL and Philadelphia, PA, also include over 1,000 legal jobs.

Based on the number of open legal jobs in even the most concentrated cities, it is clear that the legal field remains incredibly competitive, due to decreasing job growth in this sector. If you are a law student, it could be a good idea to consider relocation to one of the above cities.

The Cities with the Most Open Real Estate Jobs

We know that call management is especially important for real estate firms, since every call can result in a new listing. From working with clients in the industry, we also know that the real estate market is one that is subject to consistent turbulence. However, in major U.S. cities, there is a consistent demand for housing that seems to always be on the uptick. As it turns out, the best cities for real estate jobs are some of the largest: New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, and Los Angeles, CA.

But there are also some less populous cities on the list that are subject to recent growth and in need of more retail professionals, such as Atlanta, GA, Columbus, OH, Denver, CO, and Phoenix, AZ. These could be great starter cities for real estate agents looking to break onto the scene.

The Cities with the Most Open I.T. & Services Jobs

Finally, given that we are an information services and technology company, we were interested in where this industry has the highest need for employees. The results produced some cities we might expect – such as New York, NY, Washington, DC, and San Francisco, CA. And some we thought were unexpected, such as Baltimore, MD, and Minneapolis, MN. Could these cities be the future tech hotspots of the United States?

Overall, though, based on the pure volume of open Information Services & Technology jobs, it’s clear that this industry remains incredibly important in the U.S. job market and doesn’t show signs of slowing down any time soon!

Wrap Up

The job market in the United States has been improving steadily for multiple quarters, but many factors play into a job seeker’s ability to obtain a job. Whether you’re seeking to change industries, determining what to study at university, or simply looking for a new job in your field, hopefully, through our above analysis, we have provided a useful tool to discover which industries are hiring the most across the U.S., and in what cities.

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