Major Markets with the Best Post-Pandemic Jobs Comeback

By spring 2022, the U.S. overall had recouped all the jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, though some markets were slower to recover than others. As of May 2024, nearly all of the nation’s major markets had employment bases above their pre-pandemic levels. The nation at large grew total employment nearly 6% between February 2020 and May 2024, based on seasonally unadjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All but three of the nation’s largest 50 apartment markets (San Francisco, Los Angeles and Milwaukee) recorded total employment above February 2020 levels as of May. Five markets had employment bases that were more than 200,000 jobs above the pre-pandemic level. And 13 markets stood roughly 100,000 jobs to 200,000 jobs above pre-pandemic figures. Dallas has witnessed the nation’s best recovery, gaining over 343,000 jobs from February 2020 to May 2024, for a growth rate of 12.6%. Only Austin saw a larger proportionate increase of 18.6%, with the addition of 213,000 jobs during that same period.