Jobs may be hard to come by in the current economy, but both recent college graduates and more seasoned job seekers can greatly improve their odds by targeting one of America's top 10 job growth areas. 

NeighborhoodScout.com recently surveyed more than 350 metro areas in the U.S. to identify the top 10 large areas with the best job growth and lowest rates of unemployment. Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, NeighborhoodScout found 10 metro areas that are true bright spots for those freshly trained and seeking to start a career or for established workers interested in relocating.

Once these top 10 metros were identified, NeighborhoodScout used its patented search engine to reveal the best neighborhood in each for both young, single professionals starting a career and for families wishing (or needing) to relocate. "Both career starters and families want to go where the jobs are. Whether they are relocating out of desire or necessity, finding a good area to live is very important. This is important for recent graduates who may be leaving behind a close-knit group of friends from college, and, perhaps even more importantly, for families with school-aged children who are leaving behind a deep support network, known schools, and more," said Andrew Schiller, the creator of NeighborhoodScout. 

To identify the best neighborhoods for career starters, NeighborhoodScout searched for predominantly non-married households (singles), that had a large population of people in their 20s and 30s, with college educations or even graduate degrees, where the housing is mainly rental apartments, and where many people are in professional occupations. 

To uncover top neighborhoods for relocating families, NeighborhoodScout searched for neighborhoods with a unique combination of top quality schools, safety from crime, a large number of families with children, high rates of home ownership, high rates of college graduation among adults, and a high percentage of single family homes, all at comparatively affordable prices for each respective metro area. 

Here are America's top 10 large metro areas for low unemployment based on June released data, and the top neighborhoods in each for career starters and relocating families to consider:

10 Best Job Growth Areas in America

No. 1 (TIE)
Metro Area: Oklahoma City, Okla.
Unemployment Rate: 5.9%
Best Neighborhood for Young & Single:
Oklahoma City, Okla.
(Broadway Ave. / 10th St.)
Best Neighborhood for Families:
Edmond, Okla.
(Danforth Rd. / Pennsylvania Ave.)


No. 1 (TIE)
Metro Area: Washington, D.C.
Unemployment Rate: 5.9%
Best Neighborhood for Young & Single:
Washington, D.C.
(Rock Creek Pkwy / Rock Creek & Potomac Pkwy)
Best Neighborhood for Families:
Silver Spring, Md. (Northwood Park)



No. 3
Metro Area: New Orleans, La.
Unemployment Rate: 6.1%
Best Neighborhood for Young & Single:
New Orleans, La.
(Fountainebleau Dr. / Versailles Blvd.)
Best Neighborhood for Families:
Destrehan, La. (Destrehan)



No. 4
Metro Area: Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.-Wis.
Unemployment Rate: 6.8%
Best Neighborhood for Young & Single:
Minneapolis, Minn.
(Bryant Ave. / Aldrich Ave.)
Best Neighborhood for Families:
Eden Prairie, Minn. (78th St. / Dell Rd.)



No. 5
Metro Area: Austin, Texas
Unemployment Rate: 7.0%
Best Neighborhood for Young & Single:
Austin, Texas
(32nd St. / Duval St.)
Best Neighborhood for Families:
Round Rock, Texas
(McNeil Rd. / Deepwood Dr.)


No. 6
Metro Area: Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.
Unemployment Rate: 7.1%
Best Neighborhood for Young & Single:
Norfolk, Va.
(Mowbray Arch / Fairfax Ave.)
Best Neighborhood for Families:
Virginia Beach, Va.
(Kempsville Rd. / Centerville Tpke.)


No. 7
Metro Area: Baltimore, Md.
Unemployment Rate: 7.2%
Best Neighborhood for Young & Single:
Baltimore, Md.
(Maryland Institute College of Art / Eutaw Pl.)
Best Neighborhood for Families:
Columbia, Md.
(Little Patuxent Pkwy. / Thunder Hill Rd.)


No. 8
Metro Area: San Antonio, Texas
Unemployment Rate: 7.3%
Best Neighborhood for Young & Single:
San Antonio, Texas
(West Ave. / Interpark Blvd.)
Best Neighborhood for Families:
San Antonio, Texas (Wetmore)



No. 9 (TIE)
Metro Area: Richmond, Va.
Unemployment Rate: 7.5%
Best Neighborhood for Young & Single:
Richmond, Va.
(Kensington Ave. / Thompson St.)
Best Neighborhood for Families:
Richmond, Va. (Powhite Pkwy.)



No. 9 (TIE)
Metro Area: Rochester, N.Y.
Unemployment Rate: 7.5%
Best Neighborhood for Young & Single:
Rochester, N.Y.
(East Ave. / Park Ave.)
Best Neighborhood for Families:
Webster, N.Y.
(Route 104 / Maple Dr.)

NeighborhoodScout's Methodology: 

Raw data for this study were derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Division of Current Employment, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the FBI, the U.S. Justice Department, The National Center for Education Statistics, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and 63 other sources, or built from NeighborhoodScout's own exclusive statistical models and patented algorithms. 

To quantify the best neighborhood for relocating families in each metro area, NeighborhoodScout developed and used the following data:

Families with children: calculated by the percentage of family households with school-aged children in each neighborhood.

Educated neighbors: calculated by the percentage of people 25 and older in each neighborhood with a four-year college degree, master's degree, JD, MD, or even Ph.D. 

Excellent public schools: NeighborhoodScout used its patent-pending method to normalize state-specific No Child Left Behind test scores for every school district in the nation using "The Nation's Report Card" from the NAEP. Then they combined that nationally comparable rating with the percentage of children living in poverty in every neighborhood, and the educational attainment of adults in the neighborhood, and assigned a school quality value to every neighborhood nationwide (available on NeighborhoodScout). 

Neighborhood Crime Rating: we used our proprietary methodology to amass location data on all FBI crime index crimes - both violent and property (murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny over $50, and motor vehicle theft) -- and then calculated the neighborhood crime as a rate per 1,000 population for every neighborhood (also available on NeighborhoodScout). 

Single-family homes: calculated by the percentage of occupied dwellings in each neighborhood that are single family homes. 

Owner-occupied: calculated by the percentage of occupied dwellings in every neighborhood that are occupied by their owners. 

Median House Values: calculated by the median house values for every neighborhood using a repeat sales index to the neighborhood level.

To quantify the best neighborhood for young, single professionals in each metro area, NeighborhoodScout developed and used the following data:

Professionals: calculated by the percentage of employed persons in each neighborhood that are classified as employed in executive, managerial or professional occupations.

Single: calculated by the percentage of households in each neighborhood made up of non-married persons.
Young: calculated by the percentage of people in each neighborhood that are in their 20s or 30s.

Educated: calculated by the percentage of people in each neighborhood with a four-year college degree, master's degree, JD, MD, or Ph.D.

Renters: calculated by the percentage of renter occupied dwellings in each neighborhood.


About Location Inc 

Location, Inc. is a research and data mining company born of university research, specializing in location analysis, demographic and school data information products, and location-based decision-making tools for businesses and consumers. The Company licenses data for a host of business to business applications. Location, Inc. is the owner of NeighborhoodScout.com, a national neighborhood data source and search engine which has served 8.7 million home buyers and businesses since its 2002 inception. The Company is based in Rhode Island.