Irvine, CA (February 1, 2011) CareerBliss, the leading online career community helping people find joy and success at every step in their careers, announces new data revealing the CareerBliss Happiest and Unhappiest Cities to Work. The information is based on analysis from more than 200,000 independent company reviews and highlights what cities have the happiest workers. Leading the way is a city known for its tech market, San Jose, Calif., which earns the title of the Happiest City to Work. Unfortunately, Minneapolis, Minn., takes the title as the Unhappiest City to Work. Employees in Minneapolis rated very low on all eight factors that measure job satisfaction levels.

CareerBliss picked the top fifty cities by evaluating eight factors that affect work happiness: growth opportunities, compensation, benefits, work-life balance, career advancement, senior management, job security and whether the employee would recommend the company to others.  Cities which ranked high for having happy employees include Birmingham, Ala., Memphis, Tenn., and El Paso, Texas, which all outranked well-known metropolitan areas such as Chicago, New York, and Atlanta. The research shows that workers in cities such as Jacksonville, FL and Washington, DC are happier with job security, work-life balance, and growth opportunities.

The CareerBliss Happiest Cities to Work:

Rank	Metro Area	Index Score: Work Happiness Average*
1.	San Jose, CA	3.5386
2.	San Francisco, CA	3.4669
3.	Jacksonville, FL	3.4495
4.	Miami, FL	3.448
5.	Washington, DC	3.448
6.	Memphis, TN	3.4433
7.	El Paso, TX	3.4269
8.	Los Angeles, CA	3.4266
9.	San Diego, CA	3.4243
10.	Birmingham, AL	3.4192

* Happiness Rating: One to five scale - rating eight aspects of job happiness

Selected Cities Not on the Top 10:

Rank	Metro Area	Index Score: Work Happiness Average*
14.	New York, NY	3.3939
17.	Atlanta, GA	3.3888
24.	Chicago, IL	3.3718

Happiness Rating: One to five scale - rating eight aspects of job happiness

The CareerBliss Unhappiest Cities to Work

Rank	Metro Area	Index Score: Work Happiness Average*
1.	Saint Paul, MN	3.2415
2.	Indianapolis, IN	3.2469
3.	Omaha, NE	3.2668
4.	Cleveland, OH	3.2788
5.	Pittsburgh, PA	3.2824
6.	Salt Lake City, UT	3.2861
7.	Brooklyn, NY	3.2864
8.	Tucson, AZ	3.2938
9.	Portland, OR	3.2984
10.	Tampa, FL	3.3009

Happiness Rating: One to five scale - rating eight aspects of job happiness

Heidi Golledge, Co-founder and CEO of CareerBliss says, “Some may be surprised that a smaller city like El Paso, Texas actually outranks large metropolitan areas like New York and Chicago. Our data highlights how different industries and employers create work environments that greatly affect employee happiness, and the overall temperature of the workforce within a city.”

Matt Miller, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of CareerBliss says “A field that often yields happy employees is information technology. The city of San Jose comes in first overall with happy workers, and San Jose is home to Silicon Valley, a technology hub, where tech jobs provide growth opportunities, advancement and good compensation. All of these factors can have a significant impact on scores.”

Both San Jose and San Francisco which rank number one and two respectively, have an average salary that exceeds most cities. For example, CareerBliss data indicates that the average annual salary in San Jose is $82,000 a year, whereas the average salary in Minneapolis is $62,000 a year.

Heidi Golledge of CareerBliss says, “There is never just one factor that contributes to overall work happiness. In the CareerBliss Happiest Cities to Work list you will find employees who not only feel they have an opportunity to grow their career, but find there is a sense of work-life balance and good compensation in the city they work.”