The metro area of Sherman-Denison (an area just north of Dallas) led the state with a 3.6 percent growth rate.  This was followed by San Angelo, the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area, Odessa, Tyler, the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood area, and College Station/Bryan which all saw a percent growth rate of at least 2.0 percent.  Dallas ranked twelfth showing a 1.2 percent growth rate with the San Antonio-New Braunfels area posting only a 0.1 percent increase.  The Houston area showed no growth.

Despite the increase in jobs, Texas’ unemployment rate still rose, posting a 0.3 percent gain over last August.  The unemployment rate for the state rose from 8 percent in August 2009 to 8.3 percent in August 2010 while the country’s unemployment rate actually decreased from 9.7 to 9.6 percent for the same period of time.

Overall, employment rates are beginning to creep up, with Texas ahead of the nations’ curve as far as job production.  Despite the data, many Americans are still unemployed, facing foreclosure and are struggling to manage in a continued weak economy.  An unemployment rate over 8 percent still ushers in many desperate people without work or a true vision of employment in the near future.  It will be many years before the country, including Texas, will be able to recover from these faintly optimistic yet rather gloomy employment numbers.

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These top ten cities are places for the young business professional to seek employment and receive better than average incomes.  The list was compiled based on the rankings of unemployment numbers, average income and cost of living.  Forbes also ranked metro areas based upon how many of the 200 largest U.S. public companies were located in that area.  “Elite graduates” were also factored into the equation.  Forbes counted the number of Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Rice, and Northwestern University Class of 2000 graduates who were living in each city today.

Forbes declared, “The Lone Star Shines” based on the fact that three of the top ten cities on their list hail from Texas.  Houston, ranks number one overall, and boasts a strong economy, good average income and is home to 14 of the top 200 public companies, second only to New York City.  Dallas at number six offers a “$63,000 median salary for college graduates,” and Austin has low unemployment numbers compared to the rest of the nation.  Below is how Texas stacked up:

Houston, Texas

1. Houston, Texas
(Metropolitan Statistical Area: Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas)
Cost of Living rank: 27
Large Companies rank: 2
Elite Graduates rank: 6
Average Income rank: 7
Unemployment rank: 18

6. Dallas, Texas
(Metropolitan Statistical Area: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas)
Cost of Living rank: 28
Large Companies rank: 10
Elite Graduates rank: 13
Average Income rank: 12
Unemployment rank: 13

10. Austin, Texas
(Metropolitan Statistical Area: Austin-Round Rock, Texas)
Cost of Living rank: 33
Large Companies rank: 25
Elite Graduates rank: 11
Average Income rank: 17
Unemployment rank: 5

Other cities on the list were Washington, DC (2nd), Minneapolis /St.Paul, MN (3rd),  New York, NY (4th), Boston, MA (5th), Seattle, WA (7th), Denver, CO (8th), and Atlanta, GA (9th ).

The full Forbes list can be accessed at their website: http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/17/best-cities-young-professionals-lifestyle-real-estate-careers.html

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