Unemployment Breakdown by City

In this article

I pulled unemployment data from Department of Labor, did a ton of copying, pasting, formatting it in excel then worked my magic.  This took me countless hours and now I have created some very useful breakdowns of unemployment in the US.  This is the most current data by the way. 

What I found did not surprise me but may surprise some.  The hot markets of old – Vegas, California and Florida dominate the areas with highest unemployment.   Many of these markets experienced the highest bubble as well and are still predicted by many to have further drops in home values.  Not surprising is that the auto industry struggles have left Detroit near the bottom.  It appears that some plants have opened back up so hopefully the auto industry is close to the beginning of a rebound.

Now, the smaller, less hyped markets seemed to have less unemployment, far less than the national average of 9.6%.  These are the markets I love as many have near the highest returns, low competition, and plenty of great deals available.  Washington DC had the lowest unemployment at 6%.  Some markets in Texas also have low unemployment as well as do some MidWest cities such as Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Minneapolis which actually had the highest reduction of almost 20% in the last year.  Even my two favorite markets where I focus my investing Cleveland and Columbus have unemployment under the national average.

Check out the reports below.  I hope it helps in your evaluation of markets.  How is unemployment in your market and the markets you invest in?

Top Markets by Unemployment Percent

 

City	State	Unemployment % May10	Month Change	Year Change
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria	District of Columbia	6	2.90%	0.54%
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington	Minnesota	6.4	-5.90%	-19.55%
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos	Texas	6.9	-1.86%	7.85%
Salt Lake City	Utah	7	1.96%	5.32%
San Antonio-New Braunfels	Texas	7.1	-2.38%	15.02%
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News	Virginia	7.3	4.10%	7.96%
Baltimore-Towson	Maryland	7.4	3.22%	-0.19%
Richmond	Virginia	7.6	3.29%	-0.40%
Buffalo-Niagara Falls	New York	7.6	-2.20%	-7.69%
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield	Colorado	7.7	-2.05%	-9.01%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	Texas	8.1	-1.43%	10.03%
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy	Massachusetts	8.2	-0.57%	9.87%
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis	Wisconsin	8.2	-3.75%	-8.94%
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown	Texas	8.3	-1.03%	17.33%
Kansas City	Missouri	8.3	-0.82%	-7.51%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue	Washington	8.4	0.19%	-5.66%
Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	8.5	5.33%	20.07%
New York-North New Jersey-Long Island	New York	8.7	-0.47%	2.60%
Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale	Arizona	8.7	2.68%	6.18%
Columbus	Ohio	8.7	-7.11%	8.43%
Connecticut	Colorado	8.8	3.50%	8.51%
Indianapolis-Carmel	Indiana	8.9	0.00%	0.00%
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford	Colorado	8.9	4.31%	9.47%
Nashville-Davidson—Franklin	Tennessee	9	-2.58%	-3.89%
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor	Ohio	9.1	1.57%	-5.17%
St. Louis	Missouri	9.2	-3.88%	-4.58%
New York City	New York	9.4	-1.01%	3.64%
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington	Pennsylvania	9.4	3.44%	15.06%
National Average		9.5
Cincinnati-Middletown	Ohio	9.7	-5.36%	5.29%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta	Georgia	9.9	1.19%	5.84%
Louisville-Jefferson County	Kentucky	9.9	-0.32%	-4.57%
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos	California	10	-3.50%	8.58%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont	California	10.1	-3.92%	6.22%
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro	Oregon	10.2	-3.09%	-6.65%
Memphis	Tennessee	10.2	-2.07%	3.54%
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville	Illinois	10.3	-3.89%	0.58%
Jacksonville	Florida	10.8	-1.84%	13.35%
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill	North Carolina	10.9	-2.68%	-5.32%
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford	Florida	11.1	-2.35%	11.67%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach	Florida	11.2	3.06%	13.96%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara	California	11.2	-4.19%	2.03%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana	California	11.4	0.66%	7.21%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater	Florida	11.7	-2.04%	11.63%
Sacramento—Arden-Arcade—Roseville	California	12	-3.30%	12.39%
Providence-Fall River-Warwick	Rhode Island	12.1	-3.29%	11.36%
Detroit-Warren-Livonia	Michigan	13.7	-7.97%	-8.21%
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario	California	13.9	-2.58%	9.20%
Las Vegas-Paradise	Nevada	14.1	-1.36%	24.19%

 

 

Unemployment by Largest Decrease in Last Year

 

City	State	Unemployment % May10	Month Change	Year Change
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington	Minnesota	6.4	-5.90%	-19.55%
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield	Colorado	7.7	-2.05%	-9.01%
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis	Wisconsin	8.2	-3.75%	-8.94%
Detroit-Warren-Livonia	Michigan	13.7	-7.97%	-8.21%
Buffalo-Niagara Falls	New York	7.6	-2.20%	-7.69%
Kansas City	Missouri	8.3	-0.82%	-7.51%
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro	Oregon	10.2	-3.09%	-6.65%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue	Washington	8.4	0.19%	-5.66%
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill	North Carolina	10.9	-2.68%	-5.32%
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor	Ohio	9.1	1.57%	-5.17%
St. Louis	Missouri	9.2	-3.88%	-4.58%
Louisville-Jefferson County	Kentucky	9.9	-0.32%	-4.57%
Nashville-Davidson—Franklin	Tennessee	9	-2.58%	-3.89%
Richmond	Virginia	7.6	3.29%	-0.40%
Baltimore-Towson	Maryland	7.4	3.22%	-0.19%
Indianapolis-Carmel	Indiana	8.9	0.00%	0.00%
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria	District of Columbia	6	2.90%	0.54%
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville	Illinois	10.3	-3.89%	0.58%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara	California	11.2	-4.19%	2.03%
New York-North New Jersey-Long Island	New York	8.7	-0.47%	2.60%
Memphis	Tennessee	10.2	-2.07%	3.54%
New York City	New York	9.4	-1.01%	3.64%
Cincinnati-Middletown	Ohio	9.7	-5.36%	5.29%
Salt Lake City	Utah	7	1.96%	5.32%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta	Georgia	9.9	1.19%	5.84%
Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale	Arizona	8.7	2.68%	6.18%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont	California	10.1	-3.92%	6.22%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana	California	11.4	0.66%	7.21%
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos	Texas	6.9	-1.86%	7.85%
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News	Virginia	7.3	4.10%	7.96%
Columbus	Ohio	8.7	-7.11%	8.43%
Connecticut	Colorado	8.8	3.50%	8.51%
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos	California	10	-3.50%	8.58%
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario	California	13.9	-2.58%	9.20%
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford	Colorado	8.9	4.31%	9.47%
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy	Massachusetts	8.2	-0.57%	9.87%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	Texas	8.1	-1.43%	10.03%
Providence-Fall River-Warwick	Rhode Island	12.1	-3.29%	11.36%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater	Florida	11.7	-2.04%	11.63%
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford	Florida	11.1	-2.35%	11.67%
Sacramento—Arden-Arcade—Roseville	California	12	-3.30%	12.39%
Jacksonville	Florida	10.8	-1.84%	13.35%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach	Florida	11.2	3.06%	13.96%
San Antonio-New Braunfels	Texas	7.1	-2.38%	15.02%
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington	Pennsylvania	9.4	3.44%	15.06%
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown	Texas	8.3	-1.03%	17.33%
Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	8.5	5.33%	20.07%
Las Vegas-Paradise	Nevada	14.1	-1.36%	24.19%

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.