Searching for a New Gig? The Cities With the Highest Job Growth in Each State, Mapped

Want to go where the jobs are? You don't necessarily need to move all the way across the country. A new analysis spotted by Thrillist identifies the city in each state where the most jobs have been created over the last five years, and some of the places with the biggest growth may surprise you.

The map below comes from the cost information site How Much, which used employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to track job growth between 2013 and 2018 in 381 metropolitan areas.

Overall, smaller or mid-sized cities seem to be where business is booming. In Austin, Texas, where job growth stands at 18.4 percent, the main driver of high-wage jobs recently has been the professional and business service sectors, according to Forbes. Similarly, Reno, Nevada, saw an 18 percent spike in jobs, largely due to growth in the city’s manufacturing, information, and business service industries.

The highest job growth, however, is happening in Louisiana. Since 2013, Lake Charles, Louisiana, has seen a 28.3 percent spike in job creation, the highest of any city in the country. (By comparison, New York City's job growth was just 5.3 percent.) The boom hasn't produced gains across all industries, though. Most job growth in Lake Charles over the last five years has occurred in the mining, logging, and construction industries, Thrillist notes. A planned $872 million power plant will likely bring even more jobs to the area in the future.

As How Much explains, more jobs don't necessarily mean higher wages. Five of the country's top 10 metro areas for job growth have median household incomes under $60,000. For instance, Elkhart, Indiana, which is known for manufacturing and supplying RVs, currently has one of the country's highest job growth rates, at 24 percent, but its median household income is only $58,960. Of the top job-growth cities, Austin's median household income is the highest, at $73,800.

Check out the How Much map below to see where new jobs are being added in your state, and explore the full data here.

[h/t Thrillist]