BLS Revisions Drastically Change Top Jobs Markets
The annual benchmark revisions from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) drastically changed the employment data for a number of markets around the country.
Each April, the BLS utilizes data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages to revise not seasonally adjusted employment levels for the past two years, which then affect the calculated annual change in employment or job gain numbers for the previous 12 months.
New York-White Plains/Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie, NY, which had been a perennial leader for job gains on our top 10 list for several years, suddenly found itself re-ranked throughout much of 2025 to well out of the top 10 for job gains. In fact, the BLS now reports annual job losses for New York each of the past five months. After the revisions, New York averaged a loss of 6,200 jobs from April to December 2025 compared to an average gain of more than 80,000 jobs prior to revisions for the same time period.
Another market affected by revisions was Charlotte, which was reported to lead the nation for job gains in December. With the benchmark revisions, it would have ranked #7 in December, and it fell out of the top 10 in January due to the changes.
January’s list of top 10 job change markets includes metros with gains ranging from 34,000 jobs in Los Angeles to 13,600 new jobs in Chicago. Previous top 10 lists typically ranged from 30,000 to 100,000+ new jobs as the benchmark revisions have revealed a weaker employment situation than was previously reported.
Along with Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston and Austin, top job gainers in January included Las Vegas, San Jose, Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY and Kansas City.
A total of 60 of RealPage’s top 150 markets reported job losses for the year-ending January, led by Washington, DC (-103,900 jobs) and its Federal government job cuts. That was eight more than in December. In addition to Washington and New York, other major markets reporting job losses for the year include Boston, Portland, OR, Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale and Phoenix.
At the end of January, the top 10 job creation markets summed to 208,800 new jobs compared to 197,100 jobs for the same 10 markets last year, an increase of just 11,700 new jobs. The next 10 markets (#11 to #20) of RealPage’s top job gain markets created 94,600 new jobs for the year, 5,600 more jobs than the year before.
Job Growth
Unlike the top job gain markets, which tend to be large in population and employment, smaller markets usually dominate the top markets for annual percentage change in employment. As we typically see, state capitals, college towns and resort or tourist destination cities dominate this list.
Atlantic City led the nation for employment growth in the year-ending January with a 4.5% increase, led primarily by their food service (casino) gains. Other tourism and college hotspots for percentage gains in employment include Wilmington, NC, Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR and Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC.
College Station, TX (home to the Texas A&M Aggies) and Stockton-Lodi, CA tied for the #5 spot among the top 10 job growth markets with 2.2% annual growth. The San Joaquin Valley of California was well represented as Fresno and Bakersfield joined Stockton-Lodi on the top 10 list in January. State capital Salem, OR and college town Springfield, MO rounded out the top 10 list for employment growth.
Seven of the top 10 job growth markets had greater growth rates than one year ago, led by Atlantic City with an incredible 410 bps increase. Growth slowed from last year in Fayetteville, College Station and Salem, but increased by an average of 80 bps in the San Joaquin Valley markets.
Outside of the top 10 growth markets, tourism and college towns also led for growth with Reno, NV, Asheville, NC, Champaign-Urbana, IL and Las Vegas comprising the next four markets. Including the top 10, a total of 77 markets exceeded the national not seasonally adjusted growth rate of 0.2%.
