Moving from your home city in search of a new job can be a big change, especially if you have a family and children who have put down roots in a local school. But sometimes moving is the best way to find a new job. So lists of best cities to work in are worth noting.

I came across the list below recently on the Washington Post website and was surprised by some of the cities listed. Omaha is listed as headquarters for food giant ConAgra but is the food business alone what accounts for the relatively healthy jobs market here? Unfortunately the list didn’t elaborate on that.

Technology is responsible for Seattle’s healthy jobs market.

Anchorage also surprised me because of the high cost of living there. And the bevy of smaller Midwest cities seems to be saying the rust belt days of the Midwest are fading in some places at least.

The list was compiled by website Bright.com and looked at job openings per residents to come up with these rankings.

1. Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, Wash.
2. Dallas-Fort Worth
3. Des Monies, Iowa
4. Charlotte, N.C.
5. Omaha-Council Bluffs, Iowa
6. San Jose, Calif.
7. Anchorage
8. Austin, Texas
9. Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas
10. Macon, Ga.

Earlier in my career, I would visit Kansas City and Des Moines regularly and always thought they looked like great places to live, so I’d start my search in those places.
John N. Frank