Where The Hottest Job Center In The US Is Today May Come As A Surprise

The COVID-19 pandemic has done much to scramble the job market across the U.S., making some smaller cities the hottest centers that have outpaced pre-pandemic levels of employment, Axios reported on Tuesday.

And the city sitting atop the heap in terms of most job growth from the pre-COVID era? Boise, Idaho.

In putting together their job ranking, Axios worked with data from a Jan. 13 job study produced by the jobsite Indeed that found Boise saw 94.8% job growth compared to its pre-pandemic baseline in February of 2020, the month before the first shutdowns related to COVID-19.

Pre-pandemic economic factors weigh heavily in the rankings. As major metropolises like New York City were ravaged in the early days of COVID-19, residents dispersed to more affordable locations where they could more comfortably work from home or be closer to loved ones, all while slicing costs. Now as the pandemic enters 2022, some residents are returning to their old lives in big cities, while others are choosing to settle into their new homes.

"When people are thinking of where to live or take their next job, if they are considering moving, cost of living is always going to matter," said Ann Elizabeth Konkel, an economist at Indeed, in an interview with Axios.

Boise was followed in this ranking by a mix of other smaller cities like Spokane, Wash., which posted a 90.8% job growth in the same period, and larger cities like Atlanta and Austin, Texas.

With a population of only 235, 684, Boise has recently grown into something of a burgeoning tech hub. In an analysis of tech employers in North America conducted by CBRE, Boise ranked 20th in employment after experiencing a 41% job growth in the past five years while wages have grown by 10%. This tracks well with Indeed’s own research that found demand for software development has surged by 115.6% since February 2020.

What these cities all have in common is that their cost of living is significantly lower than their big-city counterparts, said Konkel.

The average rent in Boise is $1,554 compared to the $4,140 average in Manhattan, according to RentCafe.com. Boise and its runner-ups were also considered more appealing in part because of climate and quality-of-life considerations, noted Konkel.