The U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs in June 2019, far exceeding economists expectations of 140,000 new jobs. The better than expected June jobs report marks 105 consecutive months of jobs growth — the longest in U.S. history.

Over the last five years alone, overall employment in the United States climbed by 7.3%, driven in large part by massive hiring in the trade, transportation, and utilities sector. Partially as a result, the unemployment rate dipped from 6.1% in May 2014, to 3.4% in May 2019 — a low not seen since the 1960s. 

Job growth has not been even nationwide, and in some U.S. cities, employment has grown at double and even triple the national pace. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed five-year changes in employment — the number of people working — at the metro area level to identify the cities adding the most jobs. Over the past half decade, overall employment rose anywhere from 16.9% to over 25% in the 20 cities on this list. These cities are almost entirely concentrated in the Southern and Western United States.

In many of the cities on this list, the presence of major companies — often, the largest company in the state — help bolster economic conditions. Examples on this list include Boise, Idaho, where grocery chain Albertsons is headquartered, and Charlotte, North Carolina, home to the headquarters of Bank of America. Here is a full list of the largest company in every state.

Growth in overall employment rarely happens rapidly without an increase a population. A growing population typically leads to growing demand for goods and services, which results in upticks in hiring. Every city on this list has had faster population growth than the U.S. as a whole in the last five years, and all but one of them have reported population growth of at least double the 3.5% national growth rate. Here are the fastest growing places in every state.

Click here to see the cities adding the most jobs
Click here to read our methodology