Where the jobs are: location, location, location

I live in Ames Iowa, otherwise knows as Iowa State University. The reason the unemployment is low is because the only people here are students, and people who work for ISU, or are in the service industry for students and professors…It is a wonderful place, with good schools, and low crime, but NOT a place to relocate for employment unless you get a position at ISU. There is no chance of getting a good job here otherwise and let me add I grew up in Conn. and it is ridiculously cold here.
I went to work one day at 9am and it was MINUS 24 DEGRESS here, there was ICE on the inside of my car windows.
Great place to raise a family, and great place to be bored out of your freaking mind.
Nobody unemployed lives here, that does not mean there is a good job market here, people go elsewhere to get jobs, you don't just sit in Ames and wait for a job.

The truth is that today in the Internet era location does not matter at all, you can live in the middle of the desert and earn good money, because it is all about the money not location. I live in NY I am graduated but I do not work for anybody because it is des not worth. I work from home for myself I make internet marketing and make really good living from that business. But the point is that I travel a lot and I can work anytime anywhere I want:). Do not hesitate to go to my website and see how it is possible:
http://www.affiliate-wealth-secrets.com

This is why a person should be careful when looking to relocate. Check out the unemployment rate of that area first and then make a decision.

Tax Economics 101: leaving the east coast due to high taxes? Omaha, NE has one of the highest local tax rates in the nation. When you file your federal return, you are credited anything you pay in to state taxes, which means you get more money from the federal government at tax time. This way we can also ensure that our tax dollars stay at home, and are spent on local problems and needs, not on welfare for people on the coasts. If you dig into the spendulus and the amount of pork that goes out to the states, you'll notice Nebraska requests the least, usually nothing. This is because we believe we can manage our needs ourselves. We're urging everyone else to do the same. If you want universal healthcare, California, have it, but fund it yourselves, we'll continue paying for our own healthcare and practicing preventative health. Nebraska, The Good Life.

Stay away from Iowa, don't bring your problems here. Chicago has brought drugs and drug dealers. All of our factories and companies in general are laying off!

wow, these comments are obscene and ridiculous. please don't move here and bring your overinflated egos, clearly your leveraging hasn't brought you much success on the east and west coasts. we do not want your kind. if your values aren't material in nature welcome, live the good life with people who do not judge and wear their net worth on their shoulder. if you want to look up per capita billionaires, i think you'll see omaha near the top of the list. the economy is just fine, and most of you clearly aren't aware of how much education it takes to own and operate a farm. BSBA, BSE, MBA, All Nebraska universities. why don't you go ahead and research how our schools rank as well. (UNL, UNO Peter Kiewit Institute, Creighton University)

And btw, during the last recession around 2001 and the one one before that (yeah economics is cyclical, recessions will always happen, but I'm glad this one was blown so far out of proportion and we are spending more gov money than we did during the great depression based on % of GDP, you all go scared/tricked into that one by the politicians, congrats and have fun paying for it the rest of our lives, thanks Barry O) the governor of Nebraska got on the radio all across the country asking for people to move to Nebraska becuase of the low unemployment. People came, Nebraska grew, and unemployment is still low. Im sure this will happen again, the economics/lifestyles/values/core beliefs of the Midwest as a whole is the reason.

Yes, we have jobs here, unlike what Scott, Monroeville of PA says above, there are many college educated people living here. We have several colleges in our small city and surrounding areas.

We also have a many of small businesses that have become major businesses. We are pretty self sufficient it's a necessity. We are inventors out of necessity. We don't boast about our accomplishments, we just do what we can to better ourselves.

We are midwesterners, we take care of ourselves and our neighbors. Did you see how South and North Dakota handled their flooding issues.. No one was asking where Fema was. They just did what they needed to do to survive.

So please stay away if your not willing to work your fingers to the bone and to be enough of a human being to help your neighbors in a time of need.

PS, who is the richest self man man in the country? Hmm… he doesnt live on either coast.

Some of the comments on here are completely wrong about Iowa. I live there, as well having lived in other states and overseas. First off, I travel to the east coast regularly for work (btw I make signficantly more than $15 an hour posted by the genius before) and the attitude is the same. I find it hilarious to listen to this when I travel. It's like I am from Mars. I have a great education, good values, have lived and traveled the world and no where do I get treated like a second class citizen except on the east coast. For some reason Iowa is sterotyped as uneducated and, dare I say, bigots. Couldn't be farther from the truth. I am actually happy that this attitude is common, it means that my little slice of the world doesn't have to deal with the superior intellect and attitude from the east coast moving here. Oh yeah, I have never been unemployed either- if I want a new job I can get one, in the same field, which is specifically specialized in the financial sector- GASP!!!! LOL!

Lincoln may not be the best example for Nebraska, the majority of the people live in Omaha anyway (44th largest city in the US). There are five fortune 500 companies there, good jobs, and good schools. There are also more millionaires per capita (not to mention Warren Buffett) as people are fiscally conservative, there arent new BMWs on every corner (or the loans and debt that goes with them). The reason unemployment is low is all based on midwest values such as hardwork. While opportunities are obvioulsy limited compared to New York, LA, or Chicago, you also dont have the problems that come with those cities either or the immigration issues. Midwest cities are unfortunately all that is left of what America used to stand for, but they will soon be taken adavantage of and turned to the garbage the rest of the country now represents.

I was out of job since Jan and was willing to relocate to any place in USA for a IT job. Alhamdulillah by Allah's Grace i got a job in Kansas couple of days ago after 3 months of hard struggle. May Allah revive the US economy and make life easier to Brothers who were impacted by this economic recession and job lossess. Ameen.

According to http://www.VillageVoyage.com most of the towns mentioned are college towns, and as such, it is understandable that the unemployment % is low b/c such a large % of their populations are in school!!

Plus Iowa now has legalized lesbian and gay marriages. So it's a win-win for all the Californians. Cheap land, lots of lesbians, and lots of jobs. Overall it's a good deal.

"If your a minority forget about it"??? Your an idiot man. My home town of Lexington NE is 65% Hispanic since Tyson chicken bought the old New Holland plant. So, if you know anything about math, that would make it a MAJORITY. Rural areas have large numbers of minorites. Don't just go making up stuff, do some research.

Don't worry. Now thousands of jobless will flood into those states and soon their unemployment rates will exceed 10% along with the rest of the country.

These are low population states so it won't take to many. . .

Iowa is fairing better than others because we didn't buy into all the hype and in general we live a more conservative lifestyle. Des Moines is a major financial hub and yes we have had some pain from the problems in the markets, but nothing compared to some of the Wall Street firms. Politically neutral Clarion Sibley you seem to have some beef with Iowa, but none of your points make any sense so I am unable to respond.

Bottom line is that Iowa is a great place to raise a family. There is relatively low unemployment, high paying jobs and people are generally financially conservative. We have challenges, but no more than any other state or nation in these trying times.

The only reason these towns look good right now is because they have fiscal years that run July-June. I work for a university in one of those towns and we have major layoffs coming when our current fiscal year ends. In the summer, these towns are going to look much worse. The university supports this town and there's about a 20% cut in my department alone.

If you haven't lived in Iowa, Kansas, or Nebraska, then shut the *&%^ up!!! I can't wait until I can leave the west coast and head back to the midwest. The people are friendlier and the way of life is much more satisfying.

The people who are bashing Iowa and Nebraska obviously have never been to those states. They should keep their uneducated blabber and closed mindedness to themselves. You could drive for maybe miles and not see life stock. And, oh by the way, were do they think the food they eat comes from.

Companies locate in Iowa and Nebraska because of the core values that made this country great. These values include: hard working, ethical, taking responsibility of their own actions, great family values, trustworthy, loyal, great education systems, just to name a few.

Living only 27 miles west of Ames,Iowa, I have to go along with the college town idea. Iowa has been nailed just as hard as the rest of this country. Statistics are one thing, reality is another. Taxes are very high here and it tends to keep people and business away…and then there`s winter…

To RCH NYNY, with your comment, I am glad you're not coming to Iowa, Kansas, or Nebraska. I live in Missouri (which is next to these states, check out a map….) where we don't think we are the center of the universe, unlike some people that live in NY and LA.

I agree with the other posters, I dont know where they get these "figures" My firm, a fortune 500 company, laid off 10% of our workforce across the country. You have to have at least an AA to work here, most have BS or Masters degrees. That 4.1% got pulled out of someones rear end cause it has to be higher. As far as Iowa Nebraska and Kansas, they may be hiring but for what? and these towns are very isolated. I was born and raised in Iowa until I was 12 then we moved to Denver CO and I can tell you for a fact, my sister and I are the only college grads from our generation, our cousins are working in factories (sweatshops) and have only high school educations. The poor and under educated outnumber the college grads by far in those states. Take a road trip though any of them and you will see scores of young people with little hope for their futures and living in poverty conditions. The best thing my parents did was to get us out of there and to a big city, I thank them for that every day.

Obviously people who write articles like this have never lived in rural midwestern states. The reason there is low unemployment is because there are so few decently paying jobs that anyone who can, moves, to where there is more opportunity. You are really lucky if you get a good job there as its a nice place to live and your money goes far, but if you lose your job you typically end up moving to another part of the country to get another job.

I have lived throughout the country in both ends of the spectrum. The work ethic inheirent to the local culture is very different from place to place. Lincoln Nebraska is not a mecca for educated workers, nor is it a model for avoiding job sprawl. People who come from a line of pioneers fighting harsh prairie life have different values and ideas than those who are born out of less challenging backgrounds. Their sense of entitlement and desire for self-sufficiency is vastly different, as well as their willingness to adapt to changing conditions and accepting a modest and more responsible lifestyle. You can see the same unemployment trends going back fifty years, this not a recent phenomenon.

Amit from Cupertino,

I belive the 4.1% unemployment rate for college grads may not be too far off. This is because it appears that our society is being cataclysmicaly PUSHED DOWN.

The college grads are taking jobs once held by high school grads and those with Associate degrees. For instance, I live in the greater New York metro area and recently saw a woman (college grad) I know who had a decent corporate job just a year ago, now working the drive-in window at McDonald's. What a great steal for McD's and its customers but maybe not for the woman and her family.

Many people who have been laid off in my field (finance) have actually found work but they are seeing significant decreases in their total compensation i.e. something to the effect of 25% to 40% from their prior compensation levels.

What this means, is that the American standard of living is experiencing a massive decline. For generations going forward, citizens will bleakly recall that W stands for "Worst" President ever!

By the way, if the economy doesn't turn around soon, the college towns will eventually feel the pinch as enrollments decline. Most young grads can't find good jobs now. It won't take long for young people and their cash strapped parents to figure out that college debt may not be such a good thing after all. You can't get rid of it in bankruptcy.

Thanks, but no thanks.

I'd rather be unemployed than work in Iowa, Kansas, or Nebrasksa. Those are places where they relocate people in the Witness Protection Program.

Seriously, have you ever even been to those states? There's more livestock than people out there….

And if you're a minority, forget about it….

If you are willing to work for $15per hour or less then you can have about any job in Iowa. Prof. Edward Glaeser, when you are always in a depressed economy it will never let you get ahead. How did you get to be at Harvard with that sort of blanket dribble? People are trapped there as they don’t have enough money to leave or they get sick of it, go into credit card debt and then move to a better job out of state and soon after they are out of debt as opportunity is present. Iowa is just luck they are not as flooded with drugs as the inner city where people are also economically trapped by their station and lack of access to education and good jobs. Inner city Chicago looks the same to me as some depressed parts of Iowa from an economic standpoint minus the traffic and corruption of alderman/mayors.

Also when you have a family you move out of the state to get “real” benefits to get out of that situation. Children are expensive and if you love your family you do what is necessary. Especially if you want to save for college and retirement; which is not usually offered in jobs in Iowa. People in Washington put out these reports on the taxpayer dollars and it is just terrible. Look beyond something to get a blurb on CNN.

The researchers should have expanded his study to include declining enrollments in all education levels to further see why unemployment is low. There is a ton of underemployment and even more employment where the level of over or under-qualification is very wide. If the labor pool keeps moving out of the state the employment level will remain low as HR reps can only take who is left. People get experience, go out of state and then can hardly ever afford to be able to move back to Iowa. Look at http://www.salary.com and compare job titles/salaries to other regions and you see what is a reality of Iowa … poor government intervention to diversify the pool of employers.

Sure the state says they offer all sorts of incentives and the like, but it refuses to support and drive its universities into developing a workforce to meet the needs of a new economy. Then couple that with local government wanting to keep the ol-boy system of anti-diversity going and people get shut out over time and I am not even talking about people of color. If you are not related to said major family in the community then you are an outsider. If you just moved in, you may never crack the social barriers and you leave out of frustration and because the opportunities are that much better. Iowa also is loosing its edge in quality education in rural areas as they get squeezed on no tax base diversity and high fuel costs. Attracting quality teachers drops and then schools get worse and worse.

I looked at http://www.greatschools.net and found several schools are really doing badly, and the parents and kids help with the rankings so it is not some outsider trash talking. Parents see their children are not getting a good education, or graduation rates are garbage and the family then has no choice but to flee.

No job growth, declining or closing schools, and 3 decades of bad Iowa government top to bottom and you get skewed data from researchers who don’t ever really care about a solution. Worst part is that most in Iowa know they are in a decline and internalize further in their hopelessness. They carve out their own self interests and the next generations suffer even more if any are left.

Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas are also weathering the recession well because they have blended economies and the cost of living is relatively low when compared with California, Massachusetts, or New York.

This article mentions nothing about state tax rates. People (and businesses) are leaving California and New York because it is too expensive to live there due to taxes.

Of course college and government towns are doing well. They use the law to tax and punnish everybody else. If I could put a tax on everybody else to support my income, I would also be recession proof.

There are more college educated people than ever, yet more people than ever think that government can create wealth. All gov can do is shift existing wealth. Looks like all that education isnt paying off. I suppose they teach the students this since it keeps the teachers in business.

Of those college graduates, how many have a government job and live in an urban area? That is certainly not true for high school drop outs. Most high school dropout jobs are undocumented. The term college dropout is what high school dropout meant 40 years ago. The requirement that everyone has a college education and a house (for security), is the foundation of the economy now.

Employment statistics don't reflect people who have given up or they would be much higher. People will need to move to where the jobs are and have the credentials that are required.

Being in the hi-tech sector for over 25 years I can tell you that almost 90% of the companies I work with are going to have significant layoffs in the coming months as we move into Q2. The pipeline of buyers for software and hardware is down at levels I have never seen. I predict no good news until mid 2010 at best.

I've lived in Ohio all my life. As an engineer I've relocated plants to Mexico and China with an attempt to build up their poverty class. Now, after being laid off from a Japanese firm, I too will look outside Ohio.

Actually, college towns with major medical centers and seats of government are weathering this recession the best.

Healthcare/Education/Government
Jobs that are recession-proof.

Its hard to believe these numbers. 4.1% unemploment rate for college graduates? Look at silicon valley, for example, seems like every 5th or 6th person with a masters or Bachelors or Phd degree is out of job. There is almost no large hi-tech company that hasn't laid off it's white collar employees (even google). Almost all large company have laid off anywhere from 5 to 15% of their engineering talent. And silicon valley is doing better than the automobile and finance sector. The pain level is more like a 15 to 20% overall unemployment right now.

If Michigan can diversify itself into other areas and wean itself from the auto indusry we still have a significant engineering and technical braintrust pool here that can be easily adapted to other industries. We need to keep these people in the state and not allow them to be drained to other geographic areas by offering new opportunities in our state. Right now unfortunately we lack the leadership on the state and local level. In the long run Michigan will ultimately prevail. We have a vast amount of the one resource that will be in huge demand in the future. While major metropolitan areas in the west and southeast are drying up, we will always have an abundance of water. As in 20% of the worlds freshwater. That will be liquid gold in the future and we need to protect it at all costs. Sometimes we take it for granted because we are so used to having so much of it and being so convenient. I am also amazed at how so many others don't know what we have. I was in California on vacation last year with my family and we stayed at a bed and breakfast up in Trinadad on the coast. One of the other people made the comment about us being from Michigan and being "land locked". California is certainly a beautiful state, but I chuckled to myself because we have over 3,300 miles of coastline, four times that of California.

Ames Iowa, Manhattan Kansas, Lincoln Nebraska and Lubbock Texas are all college towns supported by state tax dollars.

I dont beleive it