25 Best American cities for jobs

San Francisco, New York, Boston? Nope, not really, even if many dream of living in those cities. In fact Raleigh in North Carolina, Kansas City in Missouri and Oklahoma City in Oklahoma are the best American cities for jobs seekers, according to the Glassdoor Job Score. The ranking is determined by weighting three factors equally: how easy it is to get a job (hiring opportunity), how affordable it is to live there (cost of living), and how satisfied employees are working there (job satisfaction).

As part of this report, Glassdoor – an online job site - includes each metro's median pay for employees, median home value, job satisfaction rating, number of current job openings and population.

Raleigh ranks first because tech companies looking to flee the expensive Northeast of the country such as IBM, Cisco and SAS have set up shop in North Carolina. Raleigh is also situated in the famous “Research Triangle” and has several universities feeding skilled workers to employers. Homes are affordable and neighbourhoods walkable.

The cities in the Glassdoor ranking stand out for job seekers since they offer what many people really want: a stable career that they’re happy with, and the feeling that they can get ahead and eventually own a home. As a result, fast-growing, mid-sized tech magnets like Austin and Seattle have benefitted tremendously from the tech boom as an alternative to high-cost tech hubs such as San Francisco, Boston and New York City. Job seekers are also being pulled towards cities like Kansas City and Louisville that boast a stable middle-class and affordable, family-friendly neighbourhoods.

Here are the top five:

Raleigh, NC – Glassdoor Job Score: 4.1

Number of Job Openings: 24,146

Population: 1,242,974

Median Base Salary: $50,950

Median Home Value: $198,400

Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.3

Kansas City, MO – Glassdoor Job Score: 3.9

Number of Job Openings: 28,786

Population: 2,071,133

Median Base Salary: $46,000

Median Home Value: $138,500