PHOENIX, Arizona
Population: 1,513,367
Unemployment: 5.4 percent
Leading Industries: Business services, Tourism
Phoenix’s workforce strength is a numbers game: The city has averaged 4 percent annual growth for four decades and is now the sixth largest city in the country with a workforce to match. More than a third of Arizona’s labor force works in Phoenix’s metropolitan area and nearby Arizona State has one of the country’s largest enrollments with more than 70,000 students. While tourism remains an employment mainstay, areas such as tech, financial services and aerospace are fast-growing.