Top Index Reports Seattle as Top Career Location

Kayak ranks Seattle #10 on their Top 10 Most Popular Travel Destinations. But once you visit, you’ll see why Seattle is ranked #1 overall in the latest nationwide Career City Index. Seattle is high on the popularity scale because it has so much to offer, not just for lifestyle considerations but for career opportunities.

The Robert Half Career City Index is produced in conjunction with The Economist Intelligence Unit. Locations are ranked according to:

  • Career prospects
  • Cost of living
  • Quality of life
  • Cultural diversity

The 2016 rankings, announced earlier this year, showed Seattle particularly desirable when it comes to cost of living and career prospects. These two categories are weighted highest when the index rankings are calculated. Overall Seattle scored 56.7. Boston came in second with a score of 53.4, and the San Francisco Bay Area ranked #3, with a score of 51.6.

 

That’s just the beginning when it comes to Seattle’s accolades.

The iconic Pacific Northwest city scores well in surveys and rankings from numerous sources. In 2015, WalletHub ranked Seattle #1 out of 150 locations on its Best Cities for Jobs list. The personal finance site uses 16 metrics to evaluate the “job market” and “socioeconomic environment” in each city. Those factors include things such as employment growth, job opportunities, median annual income and monthly starting salary. But they also include work-life balance issues such as housing affordability, time spent working and time spent commuting to and from work.

Based on a similar range of factors, WalletHub also ranks Seattle #5 among the nation’s Best Cities to Live In.

And why not? Seattle offers stunning vistas in every direction, toward Mt. Rainier to the southeast or west across Puget Sound to the Olympic Mountain range. Seattle is populated with diverse neighborhoods from the historic to the ultra-hip contemporary, all with their own cultural and culinary offerings. The city has a vibrant, urban downtown, complete with the famous Space Needle, Pike Place Market and Paul Allen’s weirdly evocative Experience Music Project. Yet it is surrounded by a wealth of recreational opportunities.

In 2016 alone, Seattle has been ranked:

  • #7 among Best Places to Live and also Best Airports by Condé Nast Traveler
  • #10 out of the 12 Best Cities for Running by Women’s Running magazine
  • #9 out of 11 Best Cities for Vegans by Matador
  • #17 among Best Cities in North America by Travel + Leisure

 

You get the idea.

 

Should you move? Would you?

Another Robert Half study, the Relocation Survey, shows 67% of professionals would entertain the idea of making a career-related move to another city. In fact, more than a third (37%) said such a move would probably brighten their career prospects. How would they decide?

  • 88% said higher salary was the most important consideration
  • 61% ranked lower cost of living as their top priority
  • 39% said living closer to family and friends would influence them the most

If you’re among the two-thirds of professionals who think a location change would boost your career, why not take a closer look at Seattle? There’s a lot to like, and contrary to popular belief, it does not rain all the time.

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