Zero to Most Competitive Cities to Land a Highly-Paid Job in The United States

In the Monster 2024 Work Watch Report, 95% of American workers stated they either want to find or plan to seek a new job, citing the increasing cost of living, burnout, and the need for flexible work hours. This year, 83% of workers faced unfavorable employment situations.

Regardless of motivation, many individuals' primary focus this year will be securing a new or improved job, with location playing a significant role.

U.S. Cities Where High-Paying Jobs are Easiest to Secure

According to Career.io, high-paying job availability differs significantly across U.S. cities. Analyzing the 200 largest cities by population and the five largest cities in each state, Career.io identified several competitive cities, such as Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Denver, San Jose, and Kansas City.

The most prevalent high-paying jobs, which are not competitive, are in healthcare and sales. The cities with the fewest applicants are often located in low-density states focusing on agriculture. It is generally easier to find well-paid jobs in smaller cities, as they have a higher proportion of lucrative job openings with less competition.

Challenges with Candidates' Shortage

Taylor Tomita, a senior outreach specialist at NeoMam Studios, a creative marketing agency collaborating with Career.io, explained that the salaries of high-paying jobs are relative to the median salaries in each state or city. Hence, the competition rates are more indicative of a shortage of candidates rather than it being a lower-paying market.

Using Parkersburg, West Virginia, as an example, CNBC Make It clarified that the least competitive cities do not necessarily offer fewer high-earning opportunities; they simply receive considerably fewer job applications. At the time of the analysis, Parkersburg had 52 high-paying job listings, but according to Tomita, absolutely no applications were submitted to these roles.

Below are the cities where competition for highly-paid jobs is minimal, determined by their average daily applicant per job statistics, along with the potential earnings from securing such positions in each city:

1. Parkersburg, West Virginia: high-salary jobs offer salaries of $72,051 or more
2. Nampa, Idaho: high-salary jobs offer salaries of $83,200 or more
3. Butte, Montana: high-salary jobs offer salaries of $86,154 or more
4. Sitka, Alaska: high-salary jobs offer salaries of $106,496 or more
5. Grand Island, Nebraska: high-salary jobs offer salaries of $83,574 or more
6. Kearney, Nebraska: high-salary jobs offer salaries of $78,333 or more
7. Dover, New Hampshire: high-salary jobs offer salaries of $81,702 or more
8. Laredo, Texas: high-salary jobs offer salaries of $66,269 or more
9. Morgantown, West Virginia: high-salary jobs offer salaries of $80,163 or more
10. Olathe, Kansas: high-salary jobs offer salaries of $92,809 or more

On the other hand, here are the cities with the most competitive environments for highly-paid jobs:

1. Salt Lake City, Utah: 34.9 daily applicants per job offering $94,515 or more
2. St. Louis, Missouri: 33.4 daily applicants per job offering $91,978 or more
3. Denver, Colorado: 31.9 daily applicants per job offering $109,202 or more
4. San Jose, California: 29.6 daily applicants per job offering $153,462 or more
5. Kansas City, Kansas: 27.4 daily applicants per job offering $92,810 or more
6. San Francisco, California: 24.1 daily applicants per job offering $131,040 or more
7. Santa Ana, California: 22.3 daily applicants per job offering $96,928 or more
8. Los Angeles, California: 21.8 daily applicants per job offering $96,928 or more
9. Jersey City, New Jersey: 21.2 daily applicants per job offering $114,774 or more
10. New York City, New York: 10.2 daily applicants per job offering $114,774 or more

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