America's best jobs in the hottest markets

The great American hiring boom is slowing down--but as labor cools with the rest of the economy, a few choice regions will stay red-hot. You just have to know where to look.

Financial giants Bank of America and Wachovia are stoking investment.
4. CHARLOTTE, NC
2-year job-growth forecast: 5.7%

Metropolitan-area population: 1.6 million

Who's hiring now: Bank of America, Wachovia, life-science startups at the North Carolina Research Campus

Hottest jobs: IT project manager ($83,000), senior software developer ($82,900), regional sales manager ($80,500), senior financial analyst ($72,900), construction project manager ($71,200)

Sorry, Atlanta. These days no one disputes Charlotte's standing as the true financial center of the South. The $2.1 trillion in assets that local financial services giants Bank of America and Wachovia pulled in last year made Charlotte a close second to New York City as America's financial capital. Thanks in part to its big banks, the region's total business investment--a powerful driver of jobs--nearly tripled in '06, hitting $4.1 billion and adding 12,000 jobs to Charlotte and 20,000 to the region overall.

Charlotte may soon become an important new biotechnology hub. David Murdock, a venture capitalist and the chairman of Dole Food, is building a $1.5 billion biotech complex in nearby Kannapolis that could generate more than 14,000 jobs. Scientists from the state's top universities are already trickling into the 350-acre North Carolina Research Campus, which is expected to be completed in 2011.
Sources: Conference Board, Global Insight, Moody's Economy.com, PayScale, and Radford Surveys & Consulting.

Orlando

Las Vegas

Raleigh

Charlotte

Phoenix

West Palm Beach

Tampa

Riverside

Austin

Atlanta

Salt Lake City

Jacksonville

Dallas

San Antonio

Ft. Lauderdale
Where the jobs are See our interactive map to find out where Help Wanted signs abound--and which positions are in the highest demand. (more)
The hottest salaries Here are popular job categories in which wages are growing the fastest. (more)
The hottest jobs Here are the most in-demand professionals nationwide, and the cities where they're most coveted. (more)

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.