These Are The 10 Best Places Places In Virginia To Get A Job

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If you’re starting to look for a job in Virginia, you’ve come to the right place.

You might think off the top of your head that Richmond would be an excellent place to find a job. And while the capital does offer many opportunities, it isn’t the best in the state according to the data.

Here at Zippia, we aim to answer questions like this using cold hard facts and analysis. So we set our sights on determining the best place in Virginia to find a job.

After analyzing all 32 plus places in Virginia, we came up with this list as the best places for jobs in the Old Dominion:

So listen up Martinsville as we explain how we created this ranking, you could learn some things from the rest of the state.

How We Determined The Best Places For Jobs In Old Dominion

We first researched detailed data on all places in Virginia. However, in order to properly compare places in an apples-to-apples manner, we set a minimum population threshold of 5,000 people.

This left us with 32 places in Virginia to analyze.

We then ranked each place across a number of criteria from one to 32, with one being the best.

We took the average rank across all criteria, with the place posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title “Best Place For Jobs In Virginia”.

The criteria we looked at were:

Unemployment rate
Recent job growth
Future job growth
Median household income

Sources of criteria include the the BLS and Sperling’s Best Places.

If your city or town isn’t among the top 10, jump down to the bottom of the post to see a detailed chart and a downloadable file of all the data.

Otherwise, learn how these cities moved up the career ladder.

1. Christiansburg

Population: 20,980Unemployment Rate: 4.20%
Recent Job Growth: 3.74%
Future Job Growth: 43.30%

2. Blacksburg

Population: 42,539Unemployment Rate: 4.40%
Recent Job Growth: 3.74%
Future Job Growth: 43.10%

3. Culpeper

Population: 16,273Unemployment Rate: 5.10%
Recent Job Growth: 4.22%
Future Job Growth: 43.30%

4. Leesburg

Population: 43,208Unemployment Rate: 3.60%
Recent Job Growth: 2.24%
Future Job Growth: 40.90%

5. Radford

Population: 16,511Unemployment Rate: 5.20%
Recent Job Growth: 3.75%
Future Job Growth: 42.30%

6. Winchester

Population: 26,330Unemployment Rate: 4.40%
Recent Job Growth: 3.35%
Future Job Growth: 42.30%

7. Vienna

Population: 15,748Unemployment Rate: 3.60%
Recent Job Growth: 2.23%
Future Job Growth: 40.90%

8. Harrisonburg

Population: 49,043Unemployment Rate: 4.70%
Recent Job Growth: 3.61%
Future Job Growth: 42.50%

9. Staunton

Population: 23,906Unemployment Rate: 4.50%
Recent Job Growth: 2.77%
Future Job Growth: 41.00%

10. Fairfax

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 22,712Unemployment Rate: 3.60%
Recent Job Growth: 2.23%
Future Job Growth: 40.90%

Detailed List Of The Best Places In Virginia For Jobs

City	Rank	Population	Unemployment Rate	Recent Job Growth	Future Job Growth
Christiansburg	1	20,980	4.20%	3.74%	43.30%
Blacksburg	2	42,539	4.40%	3.74%	43.10%
Culpeper	3	16,273	5.10%	4.22%	43.30%
Leesburg	4	43,208	3.60%	2.24%	40.90%
Radford	5	16,511	5.20%	3.75%	42.30%
Winchester	6	26,330	4.40%	3.35%	42.30%
Vienna	7	15,748	3.60%	2.23%	40.90%
Harrisonburg	8	49,043	4.70%	3.61%	42.50%
Staunton	9	23,906	4.50%	2.77%	41.00%
Fairfax	10	22,712	3.60%	2.23%	40.90%
Richmond	11	205,348	5.70%	3.73%	41.80%
Herndon	12	23,424	3.60%	2.23%	40.90%
Alexandria	13	140,337	3.60%	2.23%	40.90%
Waynesboro	14	21,030	5.00%	2.77%	40.50%
Charlottesville	15	43,223	3.90%	2.20%	40.50%
Hopewell	16	22,501	7.30%	3.74%	40.20%
Fredericksburg	17	24,932	4.90%	2.24%	39.60%
Manassas	18	37,943	4.20%	2.23%	40.30%
Bristol	19	17,747	6.40%	2.99%	39.60%
Petersburg	20	32,226	9.10%	3.74%	38.40%
Salem	21	24,792	4.60%	1.89%	39.20%
Poquoson	22	12,110	4.40%	1.73%	39.10%
Chesapeake	23	223,233	4.60%	1.72%	38.80%
Roanoke	24	96,742	5.60%	1.88%	38.20%
Suffolk	25	84,216	5.60%	1.72%	37.80%
Hampton	26	137,471	6.00%	1.72%	37.40%
Norfolk	27	243,056	6.00%	1.72%	37.40%
Williamsburg	28	14,207	6.50%	1.73%	37.00%
Portsmouth	29	95,786	6.60%	1.72%	36.80%
Lynchburg	30	75,657	5.70%	0.26%	34.80%
Danville	31	43,185	8.90%	0.33%	31.80%
Martinsville	32	13,854	11.20%	-1.44%	25.90%

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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