Following significant shifts in the U.S. job landscape in recent years, employment has rebounded robustly, with solid job growth evident. Several major markets are surging ahead, leaving past challenges behind and rapidly generating new employment opportunities.
The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the dynamics of workplace interaction for U.S. workers. Numerous jobs were lost, particularly in sectors like retail and food service, as nationwide closures aimed to contain the virus. Concurrently, many roles transitioned to remote work arrangements, prompting employees to relocate to more affordable, less urban areas amidst economic instability and looming uncertainty.
The period from 2021 to 2023 witnessed a remarkable economic recovery. By November, the United States had regained employment for 4.7 million more individuals than it had in February 2020. However, this recovery was not uniform across all sectors. Despite the gains, approximately 160,000 jobs in Leisure and Hospitality Services remained unrecovered. Conversely, sectors such as Professional and Business Services, Education and Health Services, and Trade, Transportation, and Utilities surged ahead, boasting over a million jobs beyond pre-pandemic levels.
Furthermore, the job market experienced a geographical shift over the last five years, with the South region emerging as the primary beneficiary. These areas saw substantial job growth due to increased migration driven by remote work opportunities, lower living costs, and more affordable housing. Consequently, many of these markets are expected to witness significant demand for apartments in 2024.
We are proud to say that among these regions, one of our main markets, the Dallas/Fort Worth area stood out as the undeniable leader in job growth. Both sides of the metroplex featured prominently in the list of top 10 job growth markets. Dallas saw an impressive addition of over 450,000 jobs since November 2018, marking a 17.1% growth in its employment base. Meanwhile, Fort Worth experienced a substantial increase of more than 140,000 jobs, resulting in a growth rate of 13.2%. Remarkably, Dallas even surpassed New York in annual job growth—an uncommon achievement given New York’s historical dominance in this regard.
Over the last half-decade, two additional Texan markets have witnessed remarkable job expansion. Houston witnessed a surge of over 263,000 new positions, marking an 8.4% boost to its already sizable job market. Meanwhile, Austin experienced a remarkable growth in employment, with an addition of more than 245,000 jobs, resulting in an extraordinary 22.3% increase in its comparatively smaller employment count. Austin’s job market has particularly flourished in the sectors of Professional and Business Services, as well as Information jobs, all while maintaining a significantly more affordable cost of living compared to major tech hubs such as San Francisco and New York.
The job base increases seen in Austin and Dallas were some of the strongest nationwide. In fact, these were the only two major markets with employment growth of 14.6% or more. The rest of the top nation’s performers were smaller markets where a percentage job base increase of such magnitude required much smaller volumes of employment additions.
Atlanta has gained nearly 10% of its existing job base just within the past five years, with employment additions of over 273,000 positions. This southern market tends to have a relatively young population and job gains have been pronounced in the Education and Health Services and the Leisure and Hospitality Services sectors.
Like Texas, Florida markets also logged big in-migration during the work-from-home phase of the pandemic. In the past five years, top job growth performers in Florida include Tampa and Orlando. Tampa added more than 174,000 jobs, while Orlando gained nearly 140,000. The job base increases in both of these markets was around 11% to 13%.
Only three markets with top job growth in the past five years are located outside of the South. Phoenix and Riverside are two West region markets with big employment additions. Phoenix added over 240,000 new jobs in the past five years, while Riverside added more than 171,000 jobs. Both markets saw job growth of 11%. Riverside benefited from workers leaving neighboring Los Angeles during the initial COVID wave, in search of more affordable housing.
Philadelphia leads the Northeast region for job gains. This market added over 167,000 jobs in the past five years, growing the local employment base by 5.6%. Philadelphia has likely been gaining jobs from nearby New York, as the largest job base in the country added only 126,900 jobs in the past five years, increasing by 1.7%. Job growth has been getting back to normal in New York more recently, but the five-year number includes the losses the market suffered in the initial COVID shutdown, demonstrating just how hard the market was hit.
Invest with us in these growing markets
Are you ready to capitalize on the booming job markets of the areas above? Join us in seizing the opportunity for investment growth by downloading our multifamily investing guide. With Houston adding over 263,000 positions and Austin witnessing a staggering increase of more than 245,000 jobs in just five years, there’s no better time to explore investment opportunities in these thriving cities. Learn how to leverage the potential of these dynamic markets and secure your financial future. Don’t miss out on this chance to invest in success. Download the multifamily investing guide now and embark on your journey towards prosperity.
