2 Ohio Cities Among Best For People Looking For A Job

A new report has ranked the Columbus and Cincinnati metro areas among the best in the nation for job-seekers, surely music to the ears of hungry new graduates and anyone whose recently said they’re “between jobs.” As the national unemployment rate sits at 3.6 percent, the jobs search engine Indeed listed the 25 best metros in the United States for jobs.

The site ranked each metro based on four categories: job market favorability, salary, business reviews and, of course, unemployment rate. Each category was then given a score out of 100, with 100 representing the best possible score.

With an overall score of 224, Columbus ranked 20th in the nation, just ahead of Kansas City and behind Virginia Beach. Here’s a breakdown of the scores in each category:

Job market favorability: 78
Salary: 78
Business reviews: 21
Unemployment rate: 48

Cincinnati had an overall score of 219, ranking 22nd in the nation, behind Kansas City and ahead of Richmond, Virginia. Here's how the scored in each category.

Job market favorability: 86
Salary: 90
Business reviews: 0
Unemployment rate: 44

California nabbed the best two spots on the list, with San Jose and San Francisco earning No. 1 and No. 2 on the rankings, respectively. San Jose earned the top score for job favorability, meaning it has the least competition for jobs than any other metro. It also has the second-best unemployment rate at 2.4 percent and the second-best company reviews — ”those who do work there seem to love their jobs,” the report said.

The rest of the cities on the list were sprinkled around the country, with each region claiming at least one spot.

Here are the top 10:

1. San Jose, CA
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Boston, MA
4. Birmingham, AL
5. Nashville, TN
6. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
7. Milwaukee, WI
8. Oklahoma City, OK
9. Washington, D.C.
10. Salt Lake City, UT

The report was based on Indeed’s job search and posting data. The salary scores were adjusted for cost of living, meaning cities that ranked highest aren’t necessarily where the paychecks are the largest. Rather, they’re the places where residents get the most bang for their buck.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.