LARGE CITIES LEAD THE WAY ECONOMICALLY

Mid-Sized Cities (1,000 to 299,00) have reported that 40% have seen greatly improved economic conditions whereas only 20% of those with populations  with fewer than 50,000 have reported greatly improved conditions.*   No large city (population greater than 300,000) reported worsening conditions with 23% reporting greatly improved conditions.  In contrast 5% of the cities of population 50,000 or less reported slightly to greatly worsening conditions.  See the figure:*

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

Meanwhile it is getting more difficult to find a city with a strong labor market and cheap housing:
“With affordability continuing to erode and employment growth slowing in many energy-producing states, the number of ‘sweet spots’ with both strong labor markets and cheap housing is shrinking,” said Svenja Gudell, senior director of economic research at Zillow. “Even as the job market improves, absent strong, sustained income growth, more and more cities will move toward the upper right of the chart—having good employment but also pricey housing.”**

See the figure in the article cited for a figure regarding cities with good job markets and affordable housing.  However, the best city is Dalton, GA,next is Fayettville, AR, and third is Atlanta, GA, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, TX.  Three major cities with lots of jobs but expensive housing are  San Jose, San Francisco Santa Cruse and Los Angeles, in decreasing order of job growth.  Perhaps the worst city is Atlantic city New Jersey, though Washington, D.C. and Boston MA are not good among the large cities.

An article that compares job growth in the period of 2004-2007 to 2014 is given in: file:///C:/Users/b/Documents/Cities%20Where%20Wage%20Growth%20Has%20Lagged%20Job%20Growth08-04-2015.htm
for 33 cities of various sizes with unemployment roughly the same for the two periods.

*
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/07/31/big-u-s-cities-lead-the-way-in-economic-recovery/?mod=djemRTE_h
** http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/06/01/where-are-the-cities-with-good-job-markets-and-affordable-housing/