As inconvenient as it may be for our personal lives, most of our careers will be impacted by where we live geographically. Some industries thrive in bustling cities, where others require the resources of deeply rural areas.
Geography isn’t the only factor that determines where the jobs are. However, it can give you a leg up in finding a job or changing jobs if you look for a home in a region that has a thriving job market in your industry.
In this article, we’re going to cover some of the main industries in the United States--industries in which many of us work--and talk about which parts of the country have a lot of jobs in those industries.
So, whether you’re just starting off in your career or looking for a change of scenery, read on for the best places to live for your industry.
Health care
Health care is needed universally. And if you’re in the industry, whether as an administrator, a nurse, or one of the other hundreds of health-related careers, the good news is that it is typically the fastest growing industry in the country.
That being said, some parts of the country favor the health science careers disproportionately. The states of Massachusetts, California, Florida, and Illinois are the four leading places in the country for jobs in healthcare.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
The STEM fields make up some of the highest paid and most in-demand careers in the country. They tend to be located around urban hubs. However, it isn’t just Silicon Valley that needs great workers in STEM.
First, we’ll state the obvious. San Jose, Santa Clara, and San Francisco are all bursting with high-paying jobs in the technology industries. With companies like Google, Apple, Adobe, and HP, it’s obvious why this region is known are the heart of the technological world.
However, cost of living in this area is quite high, and there are other regions with a flourishing workforce in STEM. Huntsville, Alabama has low rent prices and is home to several large tech companies like IBM and Lockheed Martin. Boulder, Colorado is another area with a quickly growing tech industry, low unemployment (2.7%), and high salary ($91,000).
Manufacturing
Manufacturing jobs have been at the forefront of conversation for years. In spite of many blue collar careers being outsourced overseas, there still remains a thriving manufacturing workforce in the following areas.
North Carolina is ranked number one in manufacturing in the United States. With plants for IBM, Goodyear, and Lenovo, there is a variety of industries that look to North Carolina for manufacturing their products.
Texas has been attracting young workers for their growing number of tech giants and reasonable cost of living. Companies like Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and ExxonMobil make it a good place for machinists and manufacturers to live.
Michigan and the Great Lakes cities are often thought of as being where all the manufacturing jobs fled from. However, there are still a number of large companies who are flourishing in the region. In Michigan alone resides General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and the Dow Chemical Company.
So, if you work in one of these key industries and are on the lookout for a new place to start or continue your career, keep these cities and states in mind.
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