BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — According to the Indeed Hiring Lab Job Happiness Index for 2016, Birmingham, Alabama is one of the top 25 happiest cities in the country for workers. Coming in at number 18, Birmingham joined a group of elite cities and finished ahead of New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
The researchers considered the 50 largest cities in the U.S. by population and calculated the scores by using the 10 million aggregated and anonymized company reviews on Indeed. Reviews on Indeed can have one to five stars. The analysts grouped reviews by the number of stars current or former employees gave. The study also took into account people who gave employers specific ratings for compensation, work-life balance, job security, management, and workplace culture.
Birmingham has been dubbed ‘the south’s comeback town’ and just last year the city added more than 2,000, retained more than 2,700 jobs that could have gone elsewhere, and attracted capital investments by new and existing companies totaling well over $1 billion.
RELATED: Birmingham attracted $1B in investments in 2015, setting stage for growth
Birmingham’s low cost-of-living has also played a part in its revitalization. According to a recent report from Forbes, Birmingham’s relatively low cost allows annual income to go further, despite often being lower than competing cities. Birmingham is No. 12 on Forbes’ list with average annual wages of $45,205 but with adjusted wages of $51,710.
RELATED: Birmingham’s ‘real income’ ranked among highest in US, thanks to low cost of living
The Indeed Hiring Lab is a global research institute committed to advancing the knowledge of human resource and talent management professionals worldwide. There entire ranking can be seen here.
