One of the most common question asked by our clients is “How is Austin’s job market?” Well, first let me say that Austin was ranked #1 in Forbes’ Best Cities for Jobs in 2011 and The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists Austin’s unemployment rate for August 2012 as 5.6%.
But what is fueling our city’s job market?
According to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, it’s because of the various employment opportunities that help us through economic downfalls. Some of the major sectors include:
- technology
- health care
- business sectors
- education
- government
- entertainment.
Texas constantly ranks as one of the nation’s most favorable places for businesses because of its low tax burden and competitive administrative environment. Texas’ accumulated costs for real estate, energy, wages and taxes are below most states in the country. It also features no personal or corporate income tax. Resulting in one of the lowest state and local tax burdens in the nation, placing Texas at 47th among the 50 states in taxes paid per $1000 of personal income. For more information visit The Austin Chamber of Commerce website.
Austin is well known for offering affordable living. In fact, The National Association of Realtors reports that the median home price in Austin was $187,400 in 2009 while the national median was $173,200.
Besides the amazing tax breaks and affordable housing, did I mention all of the high tech companies that have set up shop in town?
- Dell
- IBM and Freescale Semiconductor
- 3M Company
- Apple Inc.
- Hewlett-Packard
- AMD
- Applied Materials
- Cirrus Logic
- Cisco
- eBay/PayPal
- Hoover’s, Inc.
- Intel
- National Instruments
- Samsung
- Silicon Laboratories
- Sun Microsystems
- United Devices
Other major employers in town include the State of Texas, The University of Texas, the Seton Healthcare Network.
How do they affect our job market?
Well, all of these businesses are powered by highly educated employees that are drawn to the Austin lifestyle from all over the world. Let’s face it! People want to move to Austin. Think about it; what better balance can a city offer than being voted both the “Best Place for Business and Careers” and the “Live Music Capital of the World?” Businesses love young, happy, and educated employees making Austin the best place for them to open up shop. Which is good for us because the more businesses that move here, the more job opportunities that are created, and the better our job market is.