Columbia ranked no. 1 on WalletHub’s list of Best Places to Find a Job out of 182 U.S. cities that were analyzed across two key dimensions: job market and socioeconomics.

The job market category encompassed opportunities and employment growth, while socioeconomics category examined median annual income and average commute time.  Columbia ranked first place for socioeconomics and second for job market.

Rounding out the overall top 10 were Salt Lake City; San Francisco; Portland, Me.; and Austin, Texas; followed by Orlando; Seattle; Scottsdale, Ariz.; San Jose, Calif.; and Nashua, N.H., respectively.

The list comes as American workers are leaving their jobs at record highs in what is sometimes referred to as The Great Resignation. In November, 4.5 million people walked off the job, according to the United States Department of Labor (USDOL). The surge in quitting in recent months may be an advantage for job seekers, as it has led to more job openings and given workers leverage to seek better pay and working conditions.

In Maryland, the state gained 8,400 jobs and the unemployment rate decreased to 5.4 percent in November – the lowest rate since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic ― also according to the USDOL. In the same month, Maryland added jobs more than twice as fast as the rest of the U.S.