The Texas oil towns of Odessa and Denver were among the top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest weekly wages last year.

Odessa’s big sister in the Permian Basin, San Jose, San Francisco, and Midland, Texas, remained first, second, and third, respectively, in October. But while private weekly earnings rose in San Jose and Midland, they fell in San Francisco compared with a year ago.

Wages and local economies in oil cities are prone to fluctuations based on energy markets. During the pandemic recovery, Midland faced higher inflation and severe labor shortages than the rest of the country. It helped increase average earnings in the metro and in Odessa, about 20 miles away.

Denver also cracked the top 10; In October 2023, it was ranked 11th. However, both Huntsville, Alabama, and Trenton, New Jersey, saw average weekly earnings decline last year and fell behind the rankings. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Metro unemployment rates

Metro Unemployment Rates

Las Vegas has the highest unemployment rate among major U.S. metropolitan areas, at 5.8 percent, compared to the 4.1 percent national average, according to BLS data. Unemployment rates in October were higher than the previous year in 272 of the 389 metro areas covered by the state agency, lower in 98 metro areas and unchanged in 19.

Unemployment data is based on where people live rather than where they work. Two South Dakota metros had the nation’s lowest unemployment rates last month; Sioux Falls is at just 1.5 percent and Rapid City is at 1.6 percent. The highest rate in the country was in El Centro, a southeastern California town near the Mexican border where nearly one in five people are unemployed.

Kokomo, Indiana, home of auto factories, saw a 4.4 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate compared to the previous year; this was the largest increase in the country. The rate also increased by 4.4 points in Asheville, North Carolina, reflecting significant damage from a recent hurricane. BLOOMBERG