15 U.S. States Where You Can Get a High-Paying Job With Very Little Competition

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Everyone is interested in a highly-paid job, but not every city is a good place to get one. If you have the qualifications for one of these jobs, you may be in a city where there’s fierce competition for each of them.

However, there are plenty of cities that have very little competition for these jobs. The number of applications per job opening per day is the metric used by Career.io to come up with the cities that have the least competitive markets for high-paying jobs.

Parkersburg, West Virginia

Overlook of Parkersburg, West Virginia.
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Parkersburg is the clear winner for the least competitive market for these jobs. There were zero applications for every high-paying job opening. Someone with the right qualifications moving there would be extremely likely to get a good job.

Nampa, Idaho

Residential Area with Empty Land in Nampa, Idaho
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The high-paying job openings in Nampa aren’t much better than in Parkersburg. The number of applications per day for these jobs is just 0.001. This indicates that only rarely does anyone apply for them.

Butte, Montana

Butte, Montana, seen here on a clear, summer day from Big Butte Open Space Recreation Area, was established in 1864 as a mining camp in the northern Rocky Mountains on the Continental Divide.
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Butte isn’t much better off than Nampa when it comes to high-paying job applications. Each day, these job listings get just 0.003 applications each. This might be a good place to move for a great job.

Sitka, Alaska

Downtown of Sitka Alaska at sunset
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If you don’t mind the cold, Sitka, Alaska, might be an option for you. In Sitka, good-paying jobs get about 0.005 applications each day. They need people to fill those high-paying positions!

Grand Island, Nebraska

Grand Island, Nebraska United States - June 24 2023: a view of some of the historic buildings in the town
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When there’s little competition, the odds are in your favor for landing a good job. In Grand Island, high-paying job openings get 0.007 applications per day, giving you almost no competition.

Kearney, Nebraska

Kearney, NebraskaUSA - June 7 2019: spanning the busy interstate 80 in Nebraska, the Archway Monument offers a unique historical exhibit that brings American history to life.
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Nebraska towns tend to have little competition for their top jobs from local job seekers. A high-paying job opening in Kearney will get 0.024 applications sent in per day.

Dover, New Hampshire

Aerial Drone Photography Of Downtown Dover, NH (New Hampshire) During The Fall Foliage Season
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In this New England town, many high-paying jobs aren’t attracting any applications. In Dover, each high-paying job offering will get about 0.025 applications each day.

Laredo, Texas

Cathedral of San Agustin on the Plaza in Laredo, Texas.
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Following closely behind Dover is the border town of Laredo. In this isolated area, high-paying job openings are only getting 0.026 applications each per day.

Morgantown, West Virginia

View of the downtown area of Morgantown WV and campus of West Virginia University
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Morgantown ties with Laredo for its extremely low number of applications for each high-paying job. Each one receives about 0.026 applications each day.

Olathe, Kansas

Olathe, Kansas - June 13, 2023: Fisheye view of the New Downtown Olathe Public Library in Johnson County, KS
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In Olathe, listings for high-paying positions don’t get near enough applications sent in. It gets almost one every three days with an application rate of 0.03 per day.

Evansville, Indiana

Evansville, Indiana, USA - August 24, 2021: The Vanderburgh County Courthouse with a bench as Civil War Memorial
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Evansville is a great place to apply for good-paying jobs. For every job listing of this type of job, a job poster will get about 0.041 applications each day, leading to very little competition.

Dover, Delaware

Aerial View of Dover, Delaware during Autumn at Dusk
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Several areas in New England have very low job competition, and Dover, Delaware, is one of them. Each listing for a high-paying job gets 0.043 daily applications.

Bismarck, North Dakota

North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum on July 18, 2017 in Bismarck, North Dakota
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Bismark ties with Dover, Delaware, in its extremely low level of competition for high-paying jobs. There are only 0.043 applications submitted for each of these jobs per day.

Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Hattiesburg, Mississippi United States - April 3 2021: a view of the downtown streets in the evening light
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Hattiesburg comes with the benefit of having a low cost of living along with low competition for well-paying jobs. The best job openings there attract about 0.044 applications each day.

Warwick, Rhode Island

Aerial view of Warwick Point including Warwick Lighthouse in city of Warwick, Rhode Island RI, USA.
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Warwick gets the same number of applications for high-paying jobs as Hattiesburg does- 0.044 per day. This would be a great place to seek a high-level job without having to worry much about stiff competition.

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Author: Lizz Shepherd

Bio:

Lizz Shepherd is a freelance writer living in Alabama.

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