The Best Jobs for 2014, and the Best Cities for Those Jobs

When we started sifting through EMSI’s most recent labor market data to find the best jobs for 2014 based on growth and pay, two trends began to emerge. First, information technology (IT) and finance are overwhelmingly the strongest growth areas for high-wage jobs. And second, the relationship between education and good-paying employment opportunities is crystal clear.

Neither are these are groundbreaking insights, but they’re worth stressing as we unveil a list of a dozen occupations that are in-demand across the U.S. Nine of the 12 are in IT or finance, as our infographic below shows, and all typically require a bachelor’s or advanced degree.

To find the best jobs for 2014, EMSI and CareerBuilder focused on occupations that are thriving since 2010, the first full year of the recovery, and those projected to see an uptick in employment over the next year. We also included jobs that have median hourly earnings of at least $22 nationally. The full details are in the following table.

For a good explanation of why these jobs are doing so well, see Jacquelyn Smith’s article in Forbes.

Best Large Cities for the Best Jobs

We also looked at what the data says for the 100 most populous metropolitan areas in the U.S. to come up with three stalwarts and three surprises for each job. Like the list of occupations itself, a few trends begin to emerge from the top cities for these jobs:

• The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont economy has done tremendously well the last few years in a number of areas, namely tech and finance, while also being a good spot for interpreters & translators;
• Provo-Orem, Utah, might not be large, but it has a very strong labor market, especially in the tech sector. Provo has added the seventh-most jobs per capita since 2010.
• Metros in the South, such as Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, S.C., and Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, S.C., show up throughout as the best cities for the best jobs.

Software Developers, Applications and Systems Software

Three stalwarts:

1. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (up 29% since 2010, an addition of 8,256 jobs; $39.53 median hourly earnings)
2. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos (up 24%; $46.68)
3. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (up 17%, an addition of 6,847 jobs; concentration of 6.64 — more than six times the national average)

Three surprises:

1. Provo-Orem, Utah (up 29% since 2010; projected to increase 5% through 2014; $39.53 median hourly earnings)
2. Madison, Wis. (up 17% since 2010; projected to increase 7% through 2014)
3. Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, S.C. (up 16% since 2010; $46.24)

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

Three stalwarts:

1. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (up 26% since 2010, an addition of 3,321 jobs; $37.36 median hourly earnings)
   
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (25% since 2010, an addition of 1,588 jobs; $49.44)
3. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (up 20% since 2010; $38.07)

Three surprises:

1. Provo-Orem, Utah (up 30%; $26.06 median hourly earnings)
2. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich. (up 21%; $23.78)
3. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah (up 20%; projected to grow 7% through 2014)

Training and Development Specialists

Three stalwarts:

1. Dallas-Forth Worth-Arlington (up 13% since 2010; $29.85 median hourly earnings)
2. Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale (up 12%; $25.71; concentration of 1.70)
3. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta (up 12%; $28.61)

Three surprises:

1. Provo-Orem, Utah (up 22% since 2010)
2. Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, S.C. (up 13%; $22.21)
3. Durham-Chapel Hill (up 12%; concentration of 1.69)

Financial Analysts

Three stalwarts:

1. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (up 13% since 2010; 1,051 estimated annual openings)
2. Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill (up 15%; concentration of 1.85; $36.75)
3. Dallas-Forth Worth-Arlington (up 12%; concentration of 1.43; $35.98)

Three surprises:

1. Salt Lake City (up 18%; concentration of 1.42)
2. Grand Rapids-Wyoming (up 17%; $31.41)
3. Columbus, Ohio (up 16%; concentration of 1.58)

Physical Therapists

Three stalwarts:

1. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (up 22% since 2010; $42.85 median hourly earnings)
2. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (up 18%; $35.77)
3. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (up 17%; $40.08)

Three surprises:

1. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah (up 38%; concentration of 1.23, up from 0.98 in 2010)
2. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway (up 24%; concentration of 1.33)
3. Lancaster, Pa. (up 17%; $35.83)

Web Developers

Three stalwarts:

1. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos (up 28% since 2010; concentration of 1.89)
   
2. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (up 26%; concentration of 2.34; 1,222 estimated annual openings)
3. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (up 23%; concentration of 2.36; $33.82)

Three surprises:

1. Provo-Orem, Utah (up 25%; concentration of 2.28)
2. Indianapolis-Carmel (up 23%; $26.94)
3. Las Vegas-Paradise (up 16%; $21.62)

Logisticians

Three stalwarts:

1. Detroit-Warren-Livonia (up 23% since 2010; $40.99 median hourly earnings; concentration of 2.08)
2. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (up 21%; $41.74)
3. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (up 20%; 1,301 estimated annual openings; concentration of 3.54)

Three surprises:

1. Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, S.C. (up 31% since 2010; concentration of 2.30)
2. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J. (up 18%; $31.39)
3. Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, S.C. (up 17%; concentration of 1.61)

Database Administrators

Three stalwarts:

1. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos (up 22% since 2010; concentration of 2.03)
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (up 19%; concentration of 1.96; $46.70 media hourly earnings)
3. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (up 16%; concentration of 1.62)

Three surprises:

1. Provo-Orem, Utah (up 20%; $39.36)
2. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich. (up 19%; $31.10)
3. Worcester, Mass. (up 14%; $35.04)

Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners

Three stalwarts:

1. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (up 17% since 2010, an addition of 1,192 jobs; concentration of 1.50; $28.22 median hourly earnings)
2. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (up 17%; concentration of 3.23; $30.55)
3. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (up 19%; $27.93)

Three surprises:

1. Colorado Springs, Colo. (up 15%; concentration of 2.27)
2. Madison, Wis. (up 17%; concentration of 1.56)
3. Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa. (up 14%; concentration of 153)

Interpreters and Translators

Three stalwarts:

1. San Francisco-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (up 26% since 2010, an addition of 3,321 jobs; concentration of 2.40)
2. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (up 15%, an addition of 2,723 jobs; concentration of 2.13)
   
3. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (up 14%, an addition of 4,997 jobs; $35.21 median hourly earnings)

Three surprises

1. Raleigh-Cary (up 23%; $27.05)
2. Durham-Chapel Hill (up 17%; $33.84)
3. Cincinnati-Middletown (up 13%; concentration of 1.55)

Petroleum Engineers

Three stalwarts:

1. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (up 30% since 2010, an addition of 3,113 jobs; $69.43 median hourly earnings; concentration of 16.53)
2. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (up 26%; $77.99; concentration of 2.67)
3. Oklahoma City (up 37%; $84.74; concentration of 9.27)

Three surprises:

1. Bakersfield, Calif. (up 35%; $48.70)
2. Pittsburgh, Pa. (up 32%; $51.14)
3. Denver-Aurora-Broomfield (up 25%; $67.60)

Information Security Analysts

Three stalwarts:

1. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (up 14% since 2010, an addition of 414 jobs; $38.62 median hourly earnings)
2. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (up 17%; $51.69)
3. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (up 12%, $48.76)

Three surprises:

1. Worcester, Mass. (up 14%; $38.50)
2. Birmingham-Hoover, Ala. (up 12%; concentration of 2.36)
3. Columbia, S.C. (up 12%; $35.86)

Data shown in this post comes from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based labor market data and analysis tool. To look at the best jobs or best industries in your region or for more information on EMSI, contact Josh Wright ([email protected]). Follow EMSI on Twitter @DesktopEcon.