Research

Finding the Next Nashville: Job Growth and Job Sector Diversity in Cities

November 8, 2021 | By Dr. Luis Quintero and Mac McComas — Cities are dynamic places where populations and jobs rise and fall over time. In 1950, St. Louis was the eighth largest city in the U.S. with a population over 850,000. Today, the “Gateway to the West” is home to just over 300,000 people making it the 65th largest city in the U.S. In the 1960s, Philadelphia was home to over 260,000 jobs in manufacturing, accounting for over a quarter of all jobs in the city. By 2018, it had just over 21,000 manufacturing jobs, accounting for just over two percent of all jobs in the city, and dropped from the fourth to the seventh largest city in the U.S. Given the dynamic nature of cities and the uncertainty over future economic turns, could diversity in job sectors help ensure the long run success and growth of cities?

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Research Contact:

Debo Ayeni

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