The website NewGeography recently released its annual rankings of the best U.S. cities for job growth. This year, Springfield rose 20 spots in the rankings to land at No. 13 in the medium-sized cities category (150,000 to 450,000 jobs), which included data from 91 cities nationwide. Each city in the rankings is assigned a weighted grade based on several growth trends and job factors. Springfield received a grade of 70.0 points, only 16.2 points behind Boulder, Colo., the mid-sized city leader.
The site uses monthly employment data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to decipher the robustness of a city’s growth both recently and over time. The 2013 rankings are derived from a three-month rolling average of the Bureau’s unadjusted employment data reported from November 2001 to January 2013, and includes all North American Industry Classification system job categories, which includes total nonfarm employment, manufacturing, financial services, business and professional services, educational and health services, information, retail and wholesale trade, transportation and utilities, leisure and hospitality and government.