As the United States recovered from the recession and began one of its longest periods of economic growth, the unemployment rate fell to 4.4%, nearly its lowest point in a decade and far less than its peak of 10.0% in October 2009. One driver of economic growth was the nation’s cities, which together added approximately 83% of all U.S. jobs over the past five years.

High-density urban areas often act as engines of economic activity and can increase productivity and spur job growth in surrounding areas. Since 2009, employment in metropolitan areas has grown at three times the rate in nonmetropolitan areas. Cities added a total of 10.2 million of the 12.4 million jobs the U.S. economy added as a whole over the past five years.

To determine the cities adding the most jobs in every state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed employment growth in 398 metropolitan areas over the past five years with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The cities adding the most jobs tended to have strong employment growth in either the professional and business services sector, the leisure and hospitality sector, or construction.

Click here to see the cities adding the most jobs in every state.
Click here to see our detailed findings and methodology.