Blockchain companies, startups, and investors are flocking to select cities across the US. Here's where you can find a job.

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Use of the blockchain is slowly growing, with companies in finance, manufacturing, and healthcare exploring the technology's potential to create business advantages like reduced operational costs, faster transaction speeds, and more secure records.

As the market continues to expand, it will offer a number of lucrative career options to those skilled with blockchain tech, according to a report from Crypto Fund Research.

To gain a comprehensive look at the blockchain job market, Crypto Fund Research examined more than 3 million job listings across four sites, as well as the number of blockchain startups, new companies, crypto funds, and overall employment market in US cities. This results in a more thorough examination of the climate for blockchain jobs than simply viewing open jobs on websites, and also serves as an indicator for potential job market growth, the report noted.

Here are the top 10 US cities for blockchain jobs right now.

SEE: IT leader's guide to the blockchain (Tech Pro Research)

1. San Francisco

San Francisco only narrowly beat New York for the no. 1 spot on the list. But while it has far fewer job postings than the Big Apple, the city dominated nearly every other category, including top blockchain companies, blockchain startups, and crypto/blockchain investment funds. It also had a strong overall job market.

San Francisco is home to leading crypto exchange Coinbase, cryptocurrency and payment solutions Ripple and Tezos, and some very established crypto hedge funds and VC funds such as Metastable, Polychain Capital, and Hard Yaka, the report noted.

Rank, # of blockchain job listings: 2

Rank, # of top 300 blockchain companies: 1

Rank, # of blockchain startups: T1

Rank, # of blockchain/crypto funds: 1

Rank, unemployment rate: T2

Top Blockchain Companies: Coinbase, Ripple, CoinTracker, Harbor, Tezos

SEE: How blockchain will disrupt business (ZDNet special report) | Download the report as a PDF (TechRepublic)

2. New York City

New York came close to taking the no. 1 spot, and even at no. 2, it ranks far ahead of Chicago below. New York has more than twice as many blockchain job postings as any other city, though comes in second to San Francisco in terms of blockchain companies and funds.

New York is home to Bitcoin fraud and money laundering identification tool Chainalysis, as well as a large number of crypto hedge funds and venture capital firms, and banks like JP Morgan that are beginning to implement blockchain-based payment systems.

Rank, # of blockchain job listings: 1

Rank, # of top 300 blockchain companies: 2

Rank, # of blockchain startups: T1

Rank # of blockchain/crypto funds: 2

Rank, unemployment rate: 20

Top Blockchain Companies: Chainalysis, Celsius Network, tZero

3. Chicago

While Chicago and Los Angeles were neck and neck for the no. 3 spot, Chicago won out due to its number of blockchain startups. While many commodity and stock exchanges are based in the Windy City, they currently await clarification from the SEC and other regulators on the viability of exchange traded funds and products linked to cryptocurrency, the report noted. But it's likely that Chicago will attract a number of crypto trading funds in the future.

Rank, # of blockchain job listings: 3

Rank, # of top 300 blockchain companies: 4

Rank, # of blockchain startups: 8

Rank, # of blockchain/crypto funds: 3

Rank, unemployment rate: 19

Top Blockchain Companies: Omega Grid, Bloq, Tally Capital

SEE: Quick glossary: Blockchain (Tech Pro Research)

4. Los Angeles

Los Angeles may lack many established blockchain companies, but it is seeing a large number of startups open shop. The number of top universities with strong computer science and tech programs also offers the city a wide talent pool, the report found.

Rank, # of blockchain job listings: 4

Rank, # of top 300 blockchain companies: 6

Rank, # of blockchain startups: 3

Rank, # of blockchain/crypto funds: 7

Rank, unemployment rate: 16

Top Blockchain Companies: Everipedia, Lucid Sight, MyEtherWallet

5. Boston

Like Los Angeles, Boston is home to a large and desirable talent pool due to its proximity to schools like Harvard and MIT, which will continue to attract startups to the area. The city has also long been a center for tech companies and venture capital in the US, the report noted.

Rank, # of blockchain job listings: 6

Rank, # of top 300 blockchain companies: 3

Rank, # of blockchain startups: 5

Rank, # of blockchain/crypto funds: 6

Rank, unemployment rate: 14

Top Blockchain Companies: Airfox, Flipside Crypto, Voatz, Circle

6. Palo Alto, CA

Palo Alto is home to Stanford University, as well as a number of fintech and blockchain venture funds. Access to this capital and a large talent pool in the tech community are key reasons why blockchain companies continue to set up in this area, according to the report.

Rank, # of blockchain job listings: 8

Rank, # of top 300 blockchain companies: 5

Rank, # of blockchain startups: 9

Rank, # of blockchain/crypto funds: 4

Rank, unemployment rate: T2

Top Blockchain Companies: Robinhood, 1WorldOnline, Swarm Fund, Boardwalktech

7. Austin

Austin has attracted a number of top blockchain companies, including Tenfold. And in 2016, CNBC named Austin as the top startup mecca in the US, the report noted.

Rank, # of blockchain job listings: 7

Rank, # of top 300 blockchain companies: 7

Rank, # of blockchain startups: 4

Rank, # of blockchain/crypto funds: 8

Rank, unemployment rate: 12

Top Blockchain Companies: Tenfold, InXero, BitTeller, Multicoin Capital

SEE: IT jobs 2018: Hiring priorities, growth areas, and strategies to fill open roles (Tech Pro Research)

8. Menlo Park, CA

Similar to nearby Palo Alto, Menlo Park is another top area for tech startups and venture investors. Pantera Capital and Andreessen Horowitz--two of the largest investors in crypto and blockchain companies--are based here, making this area particularly lucrative for those looking to work on the investment side of the blockchain industry, the report found.

Rank, # of blockchain job listings: 20

Rank, # of top 300 blockchain companies: 19

Rank, # of blockchain startups: 14

Rank, # of blockchain/crypto funds: 5

Rank, unemployment rate: T2

Top Blockchain Companies: Iotex, Pantera Capital, Andreessen Horowitz

9. Seattle

Seattle is home to a number of top blockchain companies and startups, with jobs open at Amazon, Bittrex, and New Alchemy.

Rank, # of blockchain job listings: 5

Rank, # of top 300 blockchain companies: 10

Rank, # of blockchain startups: 6

Rank, # of blockchain/crypto funds: 13

Rank, unemployment rate: 17

Top Blockchain Companies: Cakecodes, UnikoinGold, Coinme

SEE: Blockchain Decoded (CNET)

10. Denver

Rounding out the top 10 is Denver, home to the largest Ethereum hackathon and several blockchain companies. Denver lawmakers recently passed a bill encouraging state agencies to explore uses of blockchain to reduce costs and prevent fraud.

Rank, # of blockchain job listings: 10

Rank, # of top 300 blockchain companies: 14

Rank, # of blockchain startups: 6

Rank # of blockchain/crypto funds: 14

Rank, unemployment rate: 10

Top Blockchain Companies: Zerocoin, LDGR Capital, Ideas by Nature, SALT Lending

The big takeaways for tech leaders:

San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago are the top three US cities for blockchain jobs. -- Crypto Fund Research, 2018

San Francisco dominated nearly every category, including top blockchain companies, blockchain startups, and crypto/blockchain investment funds. -- Crypto Fund Research, 2018

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