The national unemployment rate in America hit a multi-decade low in early 2020. In February, it was 3.5%. The COVID-19 pandemic drove it to 14.8% in April, which was a post-WWII high. It has taken since then for the jobless rate to substantially improve. It was 3.6% in May of this year, as the economy added 390,000 jobs.

One thing has not changed over time. Unemployment varies radically from city to city. Some cities have jobless rates that are less than half the national average. Others have rates more than double the national number.

The most recent data on cities released by the BLS is the METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT — APRIL 2022. Looking at the extremes, BLS experts wrote: “A total of 169 areas had jobless rates of less than 3.0 percent and 2 areas had rates of at least 10.0 percent.”

Low jobless rates are traditionally in Western states which usually include Utah and the Dakotas. The figures often tend to be low in the central part of the country which includes Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. Very large cities never make the list of low unemployment. Each has a large mix of industries, some of which are likely to be economically challenged.

Two cities had remarkably low unemployment rates in April. Mankato-North Mankato, MN, and Rochester, MN, had the lowest unemployment rates in America at 1.3% each Looking back a year to April 2021, each also had unemployment rates well below the national figure as well.

According to the St. Louis Fed, Mankato-North Mankato has a population of 103,612 which makes it among the smallest metros in the country. Rochester has a population of 1,084,973.

Rochester in particular has a stable job base. The largest employers are almost exclusively the city, the county, and medical centers.

Click here to read 50 Best Cities To Live in America

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