This U.S. Destination Was Just Named the No. 1 ‘City on the Rise’ for Its Affordability and Job Market

Discovering a brand new job is difficult and takes time. In line with information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median period of unemployment in June 2025 was about 10 weeks. And whereas that’s the median, some job seekers have been on the market for over a year. There may be, nevertheless, a method to pace up the method, and that is by shifting to a metropolis with a fast-growing job market.

On July 15, LinkedIn launched its new checklist of cities on the rise, which highlights emerging U.S. cities that supply each “vibrant job markets and rising skilled communities.” And it named the Grand Rapids, Michigan, space the No. 1 spot. 

“A rising tech scene and booming insurance coverage trade are serving to Grand Rapids redefine its industrial id whereas drawing a wave of younger professionals due to its rising job market, bustling downtown, and proximity to Lake Michigan,” reported LinkedIn. It added that the highest industries hiring within the space embrace manufacturing, well being care, {and professional} companies, whereas the highest employers are Corewell Well being, Grand Valley State College, and Meijer.

Right here, staff can anticipate a mean revenue of $65,235 and a mean dwelling itemizing worth of $524,195. This makes the price-to-income ratio of the houses barely larger; nevertheless, in line with Apartment Advisor, the typical hire for a one-bedroom condo is $1,250, a much more reasonably priced possibility. 

Different cities becoming a member of Grand Rapids embrace the Boise metro space in Idaho at No. 2, adopted by the larger Harrisburg space in Pennsylvania (third), the Albany metro space in New York (fourth), and the larger Milwaukee space in Wisconsin (fifth).

For this checklist, LinkedIn explained that it partnered with Financial Graph to outline “on the rise” cities, which included migration information, together with “year-over-year progress throughout every metric: the place expertise is touchdown, the place roles are opening, and the place persons are shifting (relative to leaving).” 

LinkedIn additionally analyzed every vacation spot on the metropolitan space stage relatively than simply the town correct to “higher mirror how folks really dwell and work at this time.” 

LinkedIn has seen job functions develop by 45 p.c year-over-year, with 11,000 functions filed per minute, in line with an organization assertion shared with Journey + Leisure.

See the whole checklist at linkedin.com