BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut
Population: 147,216
Unemployment: 5.2 percent
Fortune 500 Companies: 0
Though there are none in Bridgeport itself, the city is within 100 miles or closer to virtually all of Connecticut’s 17 Fortune 500 companies. It’s not surprising that residents, the majority of whom work in the financial sector, were paid nearly three-times as much as peers nationwide. More than 45 percent of adults in the area had at least a bachelor’s degree, higher than the statewide rate of 37.2 percent and also that of every other metro area in the state.