As a new year dawns, the City of Atlanta has charted high in an analysis of more than 180 U.S. cities when it comes to landing jobs and launching fresh starts. 

The city proper is listed at No. 12 on personal finance company WalletHub’s new rundown of the “Best Cities for Jobs in 2026”—one of just a handful of major cities in the top 20.  

WalletHub’s study compared 182 U.S. cities—including the 150 most populated ones, plus at least two of the biggest cities in each state—across two key dimensions, “Job Market” and “Socio-economics,” and more than 30 metrics. 

WalletHub

The City of Atlanta performed well in both main categories, ranking No. 8 for socioeconomics and No. 22 for overall job market.

The latter category took into account factors such as employment growth, job opportunities, unemployment rates, average starting salaries, industry variety, and jobs at risk of being eliminated by automation (thanks, robots). 

In terms of socioeconomics, where Atlanta shined brightest, analysts considered a wide variety of factors, such as housing affordability, transit access to workplaces, general safety and family-friendliness, and average commute and work times. 

Data was pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, FBI, U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other sources. 

Phoenix suburb Scottsdale scored as the top city spot for jobs outlooks in 2026, owing largely to its low unemployment rate and relatively high median household income (more than $101,000). 

WalletHub

The rankings were less kind to the other of Georgia’s top three largest cities. 

According to WalletHub, both Columbus and Augusta, respectively, landed among the 10 “Worst Cities for Jobs” this year.

Surprisingly, perhaps, the overall jobs market ranking for both other Peach State cities was within eight spots of last place, per WalletHub’s findings. 

WalletHub

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