The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released their final 2017 metro area job numbers. It was a pretty good year for job growth in a lot of major metros. However, in the ranking of the 53 largest metros, Memphis ranked #48. Here are the rankings. Job totals are in thousands.
| Rank | Metro Area | 2016 | 2017 | Total Change | Pct Change |
| 1 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 1401.9 | 1451.6 | 49.7 | 3.55% |
| 2 | Austin-Round Rock, TX | 1000.5 | 1032.6 | 32.1 | 3.21% |
| 3 | Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN | 949.9 | 980.0 | 30.1 | 3.17% |
| 4 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 1208.9 | 1247.1 | 38.2 | 3.16% |
| 5 | Jacksonville, FL | 668.6 | 689.7 | 21.1 | 3.16% |
| 6 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 1147.9 | 1181.5 | 33.6 | 2.93% |
| 7 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 949.5 | 976.8 | 27.3 | 2.88% |
| 8 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 1979.2 | 2034.1 | 54.9 | 2.77% |
| 9 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 3503.0 | 3596.7 | 93.7 | 2.67% |
| 10 | Raleigh, NC | 600.1 | 616.1 | 16.0 | 2.67% |
| 11 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 1950.3 | 2000.6 | 50.3 | 2.58% |
| 12 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 1071.4 | 1098.2 | 26.8 | 2.50% |
| 13 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 1145.1 | 1172.9 | 27.8 | 2.43% |
| 14 | Salt Lake City, UT | 699.7 | 716.3 | 16.6 | 2.37% |
| 15 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 1016.4 | 1039.3 | 22.9 | 2.25% |
| 16 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 2663.9 | 2723.7 | 59.8 | 2.24% |
| 17 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA | 2344.3 | 2396.4 | 52.1 | 2.22% |
| 18 | Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA | 949.0 | 968.5 | 19.5 | 2.05% |
| 19 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI | 542.4 | 553.4 | 11.0 | 2.03% |
| 20 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 1295.0 | 1321.2 | 26.2 | 2.02% |
| 21 | San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | 1424.6 | 1453.2 | 28.6 | 2.01% |
| 22 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | 1434.1 | 1461.7 | 27.6 | 1.92% |
| 23 | Columbus, OH | 1064.3 | 1083.9 | 19.6 | 1.84% |
| 24 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 2586.1 | 2629.4 | 43.3 | 1.67% |
| 25 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 1957.2 | 1988.8 | 31.6 | 1.61% |
| 26 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 3223.2 | 3274.1 | 50.9 | 1.58% |
| 27 | Kansas City, MO-KS | 1066.1 | 1082.6 | 16.5 | 1.55% |
| 28 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 9525.1 | 9672.2 | 147.1 | 1.54% |
| 29 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 1974.2 | 2004.3 | 30.1 | 1.52% |
| 30 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 2868.4 | 2910.1 | 41.7 | 1.45% |
| 31 | Tucson, AZ | 371.8 | 377.2 | 5.4 | 1.45% |
| 32 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | 1043.1 | 1057.8 | 14.7 | 1.41% |
| 33 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 5969.8 | 6052.2 | 82.4 | 1.38% |
| 34 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 658.3 | 666.6 | 8.3 | 1.26% |
| 35 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 1080.0 | 1093.6 | 13.6 | 1.26% |
| 36 | Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH – Metro | 2704.4 | 2736.8 | 32.4 | 1.20% |
| 37 | Richmond, VA | 664.0 | 671.3 | 7.3 | 1.10% |
| 38 | Pittsburgh, PA | 1162.8 | 1175.4 | 12.6 | 1.08% |
| 39 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 1363.7 | 1377.4 | 13.7 | 1.00% |
| 40 | Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA – Metro | 583.2 | 588.9 | 5.7 | 0.98% |
| 41 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 2992.3 | 3021.3 | 29.0 | 0.97% |
| 42 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 772.6 | 779.9 | 7.3 | 0.94% |
| 43 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 1385.2 | 1397.5 | 12.3 | 0.89% |
| 44 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 4658.6 | 4697.2 | 38.6 | 0.83% |
| 45 | Oklahoma City, OK | 629.8 | 634.6 | 4.8 | 0.76% |
| 46 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY | 560.0 | 563.9 | 3.9 | 0.70% |
| 47 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 526.2 | 529.5 | 3.3 | 0.63% |
| 48 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 638.2 | 642.2 | 4.0 | 0.63% |
| 49 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT – Metro | 569.8 | 572.1 | 2.3 | 0.40% |
| 50 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 863.8 | 866.6 | 2.8 | 0.32% |
| 51 | Rochester, NY | 532.9 | 534.1 | 1.2 | 0.23% |
| 52 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | 1055.3 | 1057.6 | 2.3 | 0.22% |
| 53 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | 576.2 | 575.0 | -1.2 | -0.21% |
Nashville’s job growth is five times that of Memphis. They are doing quite well.
Surprise…the hot “Celebrity Cities” top the list. Any positive growth is better than the alternative, so congrats Memphis. Maybe Memphis could become a model for “how to succeed when you aren’t a celebrity city,” e.g., when you are the great middle portion of US cities. Hoping Memphis 3.0 can show the path and build the commitment to show slow roll cities how to grow well (sustainably with an eye toward future ready).
Another poll, another rock-bottom ranking for Memphis. This city is more than stagnant, its comatose.
But wow, just look at Nashville an “It” city that’s absolutely booming!
Let’s look at what the metro area is
for some of the fast-growth cities. The metro area for Memphis has more small growth areas like West Memphis. How fair is it to compare our growth with Nashville, that has Franklin, Murfreesboro, etc., or Miami, with Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale? I’m not saying we can’t do better, but we are doing number of things right. Let’s not be so negative.
These stats are disturbing.
With our dismal local economy and minuscule job growth it’s no wonder Memphis is losing population. People are choosing to leave for greener pastures and business are increasingly choosing to avoid Memphis. Our surrounding counties are economically challenged and stagnant. Much of this certainly stems from the rampant poverty and crime that permeates Memphis.
Nashville surpassed Memphis in pretty much every way years ago. It’s surrounding counties in Middle Tennessee are some of the fastest growing in the entire country.
Doing the same things and expecting different results is……..
Memphis 3.0 will have little to do with improving the economy. In fact, there is no economic plan here. But here’s the worst part – not only do we have slow to no jobs growth, but they are concentrated in low-wage jobs. Exactly how do we shift to a tech economy?
Slowly, thanks to the efforts such as Startco, Zeroto510, Innova, we are switching to a tech-ocused economy. It takes time to see fruits of these efforts.
See:https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2017/apr/8/diverse-range-of-accelerator-programs-keep-local-entrepreneurs-starting-up/