Best CA Cities To Find A Job In 2020

CALIFORNIA — If your New Year's resolution is to find a new job, California is one of the best places to make that happen in 2020, according to a new report by WalletHub. The job market, however, varies on where you live in the Golden State.

San Francisco is the best city in California for jobs in 2020, according to the personal finance website. San Francisco ranked third nationally, with Fremont at fifth and San Jose at 15th.

The three Bay Area cities aren't the only places in California represented in the rankings. Nine cities in the state ranked among the top 50 best cities for jobs in 2020, including Huntington Beach, Rancho Cucamonga, San Diego, Irvine, Sacramento and Garden Grove.

Scottsdale, Arizona, ranked as the best city in the country to find a job in 2020, according to WalletHub, followed by South Burlington, Vermont. Arizona had a strong showing overall, with three cities making the top 10.

Burlington, Vermont, ranked as the city with the lowest unemployment rate and the shortest average commute time to work.

At the other end of the list, Detroit, Michigan, ranked as the worst city in the country to find a job.

A number of California cities also ranked at the bottom of the list. Stockton ranked 179th, followed by San Bernardino at 169th.

Overall, though, it's a great time to look for a job in the United States.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' November job report, the national unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, just a tick above the 50-year low of 3.5 percent in September 2019.

"As with most presidents, Mr. Trump has done some things that economists applaud and some things that they boo," said James E. Taylor, a professor of economics at Central Michigan University who was referenced in the WalletHub report. "The largest headwind the administration has created is concerning the trade war with China and the uncertainty that it has brought. If that battle gets resolved with any kind of positive outcome, job growth should continue to be strong."

WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 31 key indicators of job market friendliness, including the rates of employment growth, average starting salary and general job opportunity.

Each relevant metric was then listed with its corresponding weight, and the cities were subsequently graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the best possible city environment for finding a job.

These are the top 15 cities in the U.S. for finding a job in 2020, according to WalletHub:

1. Scottsdale, Arizona: 63.50
2. South Burlington, Vermont: 65.47
3. San Francisco, California: 63.17
4. Austin, Texas: 61.82
5. Fremont, California: 61.53
6. Chandler, Arizona: 60.99
7. Boston, Massachusetts: 60.44
8. Tempe, Arizona: 60.07
9. Portland, Maine: 60.04
10. Boise, Idaho: 59.29
11. Overland Park, Kansas: 58.65
12. Plano, Texas: 58.59
13. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 58.54
14. Pearl City, Hawaii: 58.46
15. San Jose, California: 58.44

These are the California cities that landed on the list. National rankings are in parenthesis.

1. San Francisco (3)
2. Fremont (5)
3. San Jose (15)
4. Huntington Beach (22)
5. Rancho Cucamonga (28)
6. San Diego (29)
7. Irvine (32)
8. Sacramento (36)
9. Garden Grove (39)
10. Oakland (64)
11. Santa Rosa (73)
12. Oceanside (74)
13. Anaheim (75)
14. Chula Vista (78)
15. Ontario (81)
16. Santa Ana (89)
17. Glendale (93)
18. Fontana (98)
19. Riverside (109)
20. Los Angeles (127)
21. Santa Clarita (129)
22. Long Beach (131)
23. Moreno Valley (145)
24. Modesto (146)
25. Bakersfield (150)
26. Oxnard (156)
27. Fresno (165)
28. San Bernardino (169)
29. Stockton (179)

View the full report.