Raleigh Ranked Among Top 15 Best Cities For Job Growth

June 2, 2011 - PRLog -- RALEIGH, N.C. – The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce (http://www.raleighchamber.org/) has announced that Raleigh ranks 14th out of 65 large cities in Joel Kotkin’s list of 2011 Best Cities for Job Growth, finishing ahead of such cities as Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Austin, Texas in quality of life. The survey found Raleigh outperformed all those cities in population growth and educational attainment, and all except Boston in median household-to-cost-of-living ratio, while having a better unemployment rate than Philadelphia and New York City. In his survey, Kotkin noted that most of the best performing big metros in job growth on the East Coast are located in financial and university centers, including Raleigh.

QUOTE:
“It’s no surprise to any of us in the chamber that Raleigh continues to be a top destination for employment activity in America,” said Harvey Schmitt, president and CEO of The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. “We know we have a community dedicated to creating a prosperous economy in spite of tough economic times. The fact that this survey finds we are doing it better than many of our competitors confirms that our efforts are paying off in making Raleigh a great place to work, live, learn and play.”

DETAILS:
- From 2000 to 2010, Raleigh had a 46.3 percent increase in population, compared to Austin (20.4), Boston (4.8), New York City (2.1), Philadelphia (0.6), and Pittsburgh (-8.6). Fortune magazine named Raleigh-Cary the No. 1 Fastest Growing City in the South.

- Raleigh’s educational attainment is higher than its competitors – 47.8 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher, based on the 2009 Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, compared to 44.7 percent in Boston, 43.9 in Austin, 34 in New York City, 32.6 in Pittsburgh and 23.2 in Philadelphia.

- The median household-to-cost-of-living ratio in Raleigh is $51,969 to 97 (out of the national average of 100), beaten only by Austin ($50,132 to 96.6). The others are Boston ($55,979 to 132.4), New York City ($50,033 to 182.5), Philadelphia ($37,045 to 124.8), and Pittsburgh ($37,461 to 91.6).

- Raleigh’s unemployment rate (7.7) hovers between that of the other cities: Philadelphia (8.5), New York City (8.4), Pittsburgh (7.4), Boston (7.1), and Austin (6.8).

- For more information on the 2011 Best Cities for Job Growth, visit http://blogs.forbes.com/joelkotkin/2011/05/02/the-best-ci....

ABOUT THE GREATER RALEIGH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE:
The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce is the largest membership organization in Wake County, consisting of more than 2,500 members and representing more than 66 percent of private sector employment in the triangle. The Chamber of Commerce promotes community education, sports, entertainment, and history programs, as well as business and company networking opportunities. For more information, visit http://www.raleighchamber.org.

Anjelica Cummings
MMI Public Relations
(919) 233-6600
anjelica@mmipublicrelations.com
http://twitter.com/MMIPR  
http://www.mmipublicrelations.com  

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