With 2025 bringing the chance for new beginnings and finding a better job often proving to be more effective at keeping up with inflation than cost-cutting, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on the Best Places to Find a Job in 2025, along with expert commentary.
To determine the strongest local job markets in the U.S., WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 31 key metrics. The data set ranges from job opportunities per job seeker to employment growth to the monthly average starting salary.
Finding Work in New York (1=Best; 91=Avg.):
- Overall rank for New York: 139th
- 163rd – Job Opportunities
- 9th – Employment Growth
- 154th – Unemployment Rate
- 171st – Industry Variety
- 10th – Monthly Average Starting Salary
- 76th – % of Workforce Living in Poverty
- 177th – Median Annual Income*
- 182nd – Housing Affordability
- 179th – Avg. Work & Commute Time
*Adjusted for cost of living
Expert Commentary
What fields are expected to grow the most in the coming years?
“Fields associated with personal services will see the greatest growth. The healthcare industry has a critical need for nurses, caregivers, and supportive specialists. Although AI can process information more quickly than human counterparts, there is a need for individuals to supervise and review analysis. Finally, occupations in the trades (e.g., electricians, plumbers, and welders) are expected to increase.”
Ralph E. McKinney – Associate Professor, Marshall University
“Healthcare will expand because of an aging population and medical advancements. Technology jobs like software development and data analysis will stay in demand. Other sectors such as renewable energy, education, sustainability, logistics, finance, and fintech are also expected to grow because of efforts for sustainability, advancements in technology, and society's need for specific skills.”
Alper Kayaalp, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, University of Houston, Clear Lake
Recent evidence suggests fewer people are moving across state lines in search of work - why do you think this is and what can be done to increase geographic mobility?
“The lack of migration of qualified workers is likely because of the following: 1) states becoming more competitive, 2) initiatives focusing on limiting brain drain, 3) increased costs (e.g., sunk/fixed) associated with hiring someone from outside of your state (i.e., it is often cheaper to hire someone closer), and 4) employees not being able to afford such a transition. To increase geographic mobility, organizations need to make it advantageous for employees. This will require organizations to ask the question, ‘Why?’… in other words, why aren’t people moving to my state right now? This also means that the answer, and thus the strategy to address, may be different for each state/region.”
Sean Walker, Ph.D., MBA – Professor, University of Tennessee at Martin
“Likely, people cannot afford to move across state lines in search of work as easily as they could have before. Living expenses are very high and the high cost of moving is also a factor. The market is good for house sellers but not for house buyers so relocating is tough if you own a house and rent prices also keep increasing, making it more financially advantageous for individuals to stay put. Between all of the conflict in the world lately and the remnants of the pandemic, a lot of people are also purposefully choosing to stay closer to family, friends, and/or community ties… Also, the boom of fully remote and hybrid work makes it easier for people to find work outside of their immediate area without having to move across state lines to secure an out-of-state or even out-of-country job. To increase geographic mobility, there likely needs to be more of an incentive for people to do so, such as significant financial motivation or the promise of a strong social support system.”
Dr. Melissa Gutworth – Associate Professor, Montclair State University
Which are the most common mistakes job seekers make when seeking employment?
“The most common mistake job seekers make when seeking employment is not customizing their resume. Spamming job boards with the same version of your resume isn’t going to yield you the most fruitful results in your job search. In this market, job seekers should tailor their job search to about 3-5 different types of positions and have 3-5 versions of their resumes ready to go. Furthermore, be willing to tweak those versions you have with each application given the job description. Sometimes a tweak in a couple of bullet points can go a long way in showcasing your experience and fit for the role. Keep the most relevant experience you have at the top of your resume and in the first few bullet points. In addition to customizing your resume to the job description, be sure your bullet points highlight your accomplishments and not just your tasks or duties.”
Dr. Ashley Hicks – Director of Employer Recruitment and Engagement, Northwestern University
“The three most common mistakes that I see for job seekers are overselling themselves, underestimating costs, and overestimating the pros of the employment opportunity. Finding employment is like finding a mate. We often see both sides, especially the one with a negative power disparity (i.e., they need the other party more than that party needs them) to be more likely to stretch the truth about qualifications for a position. This means someone might make it to later stages of the hiring process than they should but ultimately results in dissatisfaction for either/both the job seeker and the organization. Job seekers also underestimate the costs of finding employment. The two main areas for this are when job seekers neglect to focus on the cost of leaving one’s current position (i.e., career trajectory) and cost-of-living/standard-of-living (i.e., the new position pays more but you clear less because of geographic cost differences). Finally, job seekers often overestimate the pros of the employment opportunity. Specifically, focusing on all of the positive characteristics of the potential position and not being realistic. This is common when the job seeker is leaving a position where he/she is dissatisfied/disgruntled and willing to make a move quickly.”
Sean Walker, Ph.D., MBA – Professor, University of Tennessee at Martin