AreaProfile

The Large Metros With the Strongest Employment Momentum

Unemployment tells you where a labor market is. Employment change tells you where it is going.

AreaProfile ResearchPublished August 29, 2026Updated September 26, 2026Data as of July 2026

Employment change over the year to July 2026 across the largest US metropolitan areas. These figures count employed residents of the metro, not jobs located in it, which is why a commuter-heavy metro can look different here than in payroll data.

Key findings

  • San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR leads on one-year employment growth at +2.8%.
  • 14 of the 20 largest metros shown added employed residents over the year.
  • Unemployment across this group ranges from 3.2% to 5.7%.
MetroOne-year changeThree-year changeUnemploymentEmployed residents
San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR+2.8%+6.5%5.7%801,597
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD+2.2%+1.3%4.2%3,210,943
Pittsburgh, PA+2.1%+0.7%3.7%1,206,858
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT+1.2%+1.9%3.5%727,481
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA+1.2%+1.7%3.2%3,244,036
Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV+1.1%+4.7%5.4%1,172,838
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ+1.1%+1.5%4.3%9,977,046
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN+0.8%+1.4%3.7%1,148,876
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI+0.8%−1.4%3.8%783,875
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY+0.7%−1.1%4.4%545,032
St. Louis, MO-IL+0.6%+0.3%3.8%1,452,600
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN+0.4%+2.3%4.8%680,371
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX+0.4%+6.0%4.0%1,505,981
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX+0.2%+3.8%5.1%3,720,452
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX0.0%+3.6%4.6%4,382,554
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA−0.3%−0.7%4.8%2,190,384
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD−0.3%−1.5%4.2%1,440,424
Rochester, NY−0.4%−1.7%4.2%500,232
Columbus, OH−0.4%+2.2%3.2%1,136,538
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX−0.4%+2.7%4.7%1,290,731
Change in employed residents, year to July 2026. Download this table (CSV)
San Juan+2.8%Philadelphia+2.2%Pittsburgh+2.1%Salt Lake City+1.2%Atlanta+1.2%Las Vegas+1.1%New York+1.1%Cincinnati+0.8%Milwaukee+0.8%Buffalo+0.7%St. Louis+0.6%Louisville/Jefferson County+0.4%Austin+0.4%Houston+0.2%Dallas0%
One-year change in employed residents, twenty largest-gaining metros.

Local Area Unemployment Statistics are model-based estimates and are revised. AreaProfile keeps the full monthly series, so revisions are visible rather than silently overwriting history.

Methodology

Metropolitan areas of one million or more residents, ranked by the percentage change in employed residents against the same month one year earlier, from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics. The unemployment rate for the same month is shown alongside, because the two measures can move independently — a metro can add jobs while unemployment rises if its labor force is growing faster.

Sources

Related

Every figure here is recalculated from the same measurements the profiles use. See the methodology for how the underlying data is collected and normalized, and the editorial policy for how these reports are written.