California Cities with the Most Opportunities for Jobs, Relocation, and Travel Attractions

I received a question: "Where is a good place to move to have access to more jobs?" - asked by money4tee.

In mid-January 2011, California job listings via all sources on the Internet numbered over 530,580 vacancies. In addition, a certain number of jobs existed in the unadvertised or hidden job market. That number is unknown, but is surely far fewer than the advertised positions.

At the same time, America is suffering at least 12 or 14 Million Unemployed job seekers while offering only 5 Million some job listings other than the hidden market. We do not have enough jobs for all our job seekers, so this fact forces job seekers into higher and more intense competition for job interviews. There are jobs, but job seekers must fight for them, so to speak.

While the link above leads to a portal for California top cities, job listings, employment trends, tourist attractions, and other materials; it highlights mainly cities named as "Best Cities" or "Fastest-Growing Cities" by a variety of organizations and financial magazines like Forbes.com, CNNMoney, Kiplinger, and several others. California also is home to several cities that provide equally good options, but have not yet, or least often, been pronounced "best" cities.

Any of the following cities, all of which offer the largest blocks of jobs out of the even larger number available as advertised in California, might be a good place to move for work. Suburbs around these cities may provide not only their own jobs, but a lower cost of living as well. Jobs advertised are from 1000's of sites across the Internet and aggregated by Indeed.com and SimplyHired.com job search engines. Cities showing the largest job increases below are inn bold print.

1. Los Angeles, CA -- Jobs decreased slightly in numbers listed over the 18 months that included May1, 2009 - November 30, 2010. Job Listings showed some increase during 1st QTR 2012,
2. San Francisco, CA -- Jobs increased an incredible 88%. Further, San Francisco is the home for the headquarters of several major companies, one being our own HubPages.
3. San Diego, CA -- Job numbers are stable.
4. San Jose, CA -- Job listings advertised increased 22%.
5. Sacramento, CA -- Job listings increased 13%.
6. Irvine, CA -- Job listings increased 36%.
7. Santa Clara, CA -- Job listings increased 41%
8. Oakland, CA -- Increase of 86% in job listings.
9. Mountain View, CA -- Job listings increased 167% from May 1, 2009 - Nov. 30, 2010.
10. Sunnyvale, CA -- Job Listings increased 38% in the same 18 months.
11. Palo Alto, CA -- Jobs increased 8%
12. Fresno, CA -- Jobs decreased 13% - Even though job listings decreased, this city is among the top 15 job posters on SimplyHired.com and Indeed.com.
13. Bakersfield, CA -- Jobs decreased 17% - Still in the top 15 for jobs.
14. Pasadena, CA -- Jobs increased 59%.
15. Anaheim, CA -- Job numbers are stable.

City reviews, job openings, and employment trends are offered at the links below for most of the cities listed above.

Mountain View is the home of Google.

From 2011 to early 2012, the Top 10 High Demand Jobs within 25 miles of Mountain View were:

1. Software Engineers and Developers
2. Senior Software Engineers
3. Project Managers
4. Product Managers
5. Physical Therapists
6. Account Executives
7. Web Developers
8. Java Developers
9. Account Managers
10. Business Analysts

1. Dental Assistants
2. General Dentists
3. Office Managers
4. Occupational Therapists
5. Project Managers
6. Administrative Assistants
7. Physical Therapists
8. Sales Representatives
9. Account Executives
10. Dental Hygienists
11. Registered Nurses (RNs)
12. Outside Sales Representatives
13. Assistant Store Managers
14. Software Engineers
15. Orthodontic Assistants

1. General Dentists
2. Dental Assistants
3. Office Managers
4. Physical Therapists
5. Project Managers
6. Occupational Therapists
7. Inside and Outside Sales Representatives
8. Administrative Assistants
9. Front Desk Staff
10. Registered Nurses (RNs)
11. Dental Hygienists
12. Customer Service Representatives
13. Salespeople
14. Business Analysts
15. Assistant Store Managers