Fort Myers tops U.S. cities for best job market without college degree
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Those without a high education degree might find more employment opportunities in Fort Myers after the city was named the best place in America for those seeking a job without a diploma.
Conducted by CashNetUSA, the study found Fort Myers having 1.20 non-college degree holders per entry level job through data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Indeed. The city beat out Mount Pleasant, South Carolina; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Annapolis, Maryland; and Scottsdale, Arizona for the top spot.
Moreover, Fort Myers was joined by Orlando in the top 10. The city ranked in ninth place with 1.80 non-college degree holders per entry level opening. Other cities named in the top 10 were Charleston, South Carolina; Portland, Maine; Montpelier, Vermont; and Bangor, Maine.
West Palm Beach also ranked inside the top 20 in 19th place with 2.43 non-college degree holders per entry level opening. Florida, with three spots, trailed only Vermont for the most entries with four.
The study specifically used 300 of the most populated U.S. cities and highlighted 18-24 year-old high school grads for its findings.
On the state level, Maine, West Virginia, and South Carolina were named as the best places to find a job without a college degree.
According to LinkedIn, the number of job posts without a college degree increased by 36% from 2019-2022.
On the flip side, New York City was recognized as the toughest place in the U.S. for people without a college degree with 41.48 non-graduates per entry level role. The city was followed by Berkeley, California; Moreno Valley, California; West Valley City, Utah; and Fontana, California.
New York also was named the worst state for non-degree holders at 21.94 per opening. The state was followed by California, New Jersey, Utah and Rhode Island in the bottom five.
In Florida, Miami Gardens ranked as the toughest place to find a job without a college degree in twelfth place. No other Florida city made the top twenty; while California held twelve overall spots.
Of all states, Florida fared comparatively well to southeastern areas with 5.08 non-graduates per entry level role. The state placed ahead of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina while just trailing Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina.
