Where the jobs are

Especially in a tough economy, plentiful job opportunities are key to making a great place to live. These 25 counties have experienced the most job growth over the last eight years.

9 of 25
BACKNEXT
9. Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK
Towns include:  Wasilla
Job growth (2000-2008): 58.5%

Is this a hot place for jobs? In the words of its most famous resident, you betcha! Employment in the borough (Alaska's equivalent to a county) has grown an average of 5.5% each year for the past decade.

While many residents commute to nearby Anchorage for work, locals are thriving from the tourism trade. With 2,000 miles of mountain biking and horseback riding trails and six rivers designated for rafting, canoeing and salmon fishing, Matanuska-Susitna offers plenty of reasons to keep visitors coming back.

But it's not all fun and game fishing. Development of a large prison, Olympic ski resort and $80 million of new road projects are all underway, bringing many more construction and service jobs to the area.

NEXT: Union County, NC
Last updated July 21 2009: 4:23 PM ET
Email | Print | Share  |  RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
Full list: Top 100 Great jobs, good schools, affordable housing, low crime - America's best small towns have that and much more. More
6-figure townsHolmdel, N.J., residents pull in more than $159,000 a year. Which other places have high incomes? More
Rich and single Seeking a sugar daddy (or mama)? Follow the money to these affluent towns, where singles are abundant. More
Special Offer

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.