NextChapter

Best counties for laid-off professionals in the Southeast

Miami-Dade County is the best all-round county for laid-off professionals in the Southeast, with a score of 91 / 100.November 2026 edition. Updated monthly, from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census data.

Key facts

  • #1 Miami-Dade County, FL: 91 / 100
  • #2 Wake County, NC: 84 / 100
  • #3 New Hanover County, NC: 76 / 100
  • 77 counties ranked in the Southeast
  • Data as of November 2026
  1. 1Miami-Dade County FL91 / 100
  2. 2Wake County NC84 / 100
  3. 3New Hanover County NC76 / 100
  4. 4Arlington County VA75 / 100
  5. 5Anderson County TN74 / 100
  6. 6Fulton County GA74 / 100
  7. 7Guilford County NC73 / 100
  8. 8Mecklenburg County NC73 / 100
  9. 9Franklin County KY72 / 100
  10. 10Fairfax County VA71 / 100

What stands out

  • The top ten is tightly packed: Miami-Dade County leads on 91 / 100, and #10 Fairfax County is at 71 / 100.
  • Franklin County reaches #9 on a sample of 170 openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.
  • Fulton County is the largest market in the top ten, with 6,189 openings behind its figure.
  • Counties with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.

Why this ranking matters

What it shows

For someone who has lost a job, the useful counties have openings for people looking, job centers to help and unemployment that is falling. This list weighs those with published weights.

How to use it

If you are between jobs, use it to find nearby counties with more going on, and read each county page for its American Job Centers and workforce board.

The top 25

  1. 1

    Miami-Dade County FL

    91 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    12
    American Job Centers
    16
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.0 points

    Based on 3,265 openings.

    Miami-Dade County job market

  2. 2

    Wake County NC

    84 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    10
    American Job Centers
    4
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.3 points

    Based on 1,908 openings.

    Wake County job market

  3. 3

    New Hanover County NC

    76 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    5
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.5 points

    Based on 195 openings.

    New Hanover County job market

  4. 4

    Arlington County VA

    75 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    45
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.1 points

    Based on 1,989 openings.

    Arlington County job market

  5. 5

    Anderson County TN

    74 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    19
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.3 points

    Based on 212 openings.

    Anderson County job market

  6. 6

    Fulton County GA

    74 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    28
    American Job Centers
    7
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.0 points

    Based on 6,189 openings.

    Fulton County job market

  7. 7

    Guilford County NC

    73 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    6
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.8 points

    Based on 560 openings.

    Guilford County job market

  8. 8

    Mecklenburg County NC

    73 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    15
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.5 points

    Based on 3,231 openings.

    Mecklenburg County job market

  9. 9

    Franklin County KY

    72 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    16
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.0 points

    Based on 170 openings.

    Franklin County job market

  10. 10

    Fairfax County VA

    71 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    20
    American Job Centers
    3
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.1 points

    Based on 4,186 openings.

    Fairfax County job market

  11. 11

    Durham County NC

    70 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    14
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.6 points

    Based on 759 openings.

    Durham County job market

  12. 12

    Richmond city VA

    70 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    22
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.3 points

    Based on 1,147 openings.

    Richmond city job market

  13. 13

    Hillsborough County FL

    69 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    5
    American Job Centers
    4
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.1 points

    Based on 1,856 openings.

    Hillsborough County job market

  14. 14

    Davidson County TN

    67 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    13
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.2 points

    Based on 1,636 openings.

    Davidson County job market

  15. 15

    Brevard County FL

    67 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    6
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.1 points

    Based on 779 openings.

    Brevard County job market

  16. 16

    Loudoun County VA

    65 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    8
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.2 points

    Based on 638 openings.

    Loudoun County job market

  17. 17

    Charleston County SC

    64 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    4
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.7 points

    Based on 327 openings.

    Charleston County job market

  18. 18

    Knox County TN

    63 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    6
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.2 points

    Based on 443 openings.

    Knox County job market

  19. 19

    Madison County AL

    63 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    17
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.7 points

    Based on 1,230 openings.

    Madison County job market

  20. 20

    Iredell County NC

    62 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    9
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.8 points

    Based on 259 openings.

    Iredell County job market

  21. 21

    Leon County FL

    61 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    10
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.3 points

    Based on 763 openings.

    Leon County job market

  22. 22

    Greenville County SC

    60 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    4
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.8 points

    Based on 371 openings.

    Greenville County job market

  23. 23

    Alexandria city VA

    60 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    19
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.1 points

    Based on 583 openings.

    Alexandria city job market

  24. 24

    Orange County FL

    58 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    4
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.2 points

    Based on 1,413 openings.

    Orange County job market

  25. 25

    Richland County SC

    57 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    4
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.6 points

    Based on 374 openings.

    Richland County job market

Full ranking

All 77 counties that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.

RankCountyScoreSample
1Miami-Dade County FL91 / 1003,265
2Wake County NC84 / 1001,908
3New Hanover County NC76 / 100195
4Arlington County VA75 / 1001,989
5Anderson County TN74 / 100212
6Fulton County GA74 / 1006,189
7Guilford County NC73 / 100560
8Mecklenburg County NC73 / 1003,231
9Franklin County KY72 / 100170
10Fairfax County VA71 / 1004,186
11Durham County NC70 / 100759
12Richmond city VA70 / 1001,147
13Hillsborough County FL69 / 1001,856
14Davidson County TN67 / 1001,636
15Brevard County FL67 / 100779
16Loudoun County VA65 / 100638
17Charleston County SC64 / 100327
18Knox County TN63 / 100443
19Madison County AL63 / 1001,230
20Iredell County NC62 / 100259
21Leon County FL61 / 100763
22Greenville County SC60 / 100371
23Alexandria city VA60 / 100583
24Orange County FL58 / 1001,413
25Richland County SC57 / 100374
26Williamson County TN56 / 100335
27Duval County FL56 / 1001,069
28Hamilton County TN55 / 100204
29Cabarrus County NC55 / 100103
30Pitt County NC55 / 100129
31Chatham County GA54 / 100217
32Collier County FL53 / 100213
33Roanoke city VA53 / 100181
34Norfolk city VA52 / 100327
35Sullivan County TN52 / 100100
36Gwinnett County GA51 / 100601
37Jefferson County KY50 / 1002,081
38Catawba County NC50 / 100108
39Jefferson County AL50 / 100641
40York County SC48 / 100175
41Cobb County GA48 / 100620
42Buncombe County NC46 / 100136
43Broward County FL46 / 1001,142
44Palm Beach County FL46 / 100821
45Spartanburg County SC45 / 100121
46Fayette County KY44 / 100213
47Hall County GA44 / 100110
48DeSoto County MS44 / 100113
49Sarasota County FL42 / 100202
50Rutherford County TN41 / 100105
51Shelby County TN41 / 100752
52Volusia County FL40 / 100161
53Hinds County MS40 / 100119
54Polk County FL40 / 100185
55Richmond County GA40 / 100199
56Lee County FL40 / 100223
57Montgomery County AL39 / 100187
58Pinellas County FL38 / 100550
59Escambia County FL38 / 100177
60Okaloosa County FL38 / 100145
61Hampton city VA38 / 100111
62Cumberland County NC38 / 100116
63Houston County GA37 / 100100
64Montgomery County VA35 / 100113
65Prince William County VA34 / 100152
66Forsyth County NC31 / 100101
67Lynchburg city VA31 / 100113
68Bibb County GA30 / 100100
69Seminole County FL29 / 100210
70Alachua County FL29 / 100151
71DeKalb County GA27 / 100226
72Henrico County VA27 / 100100
73Newport News city VA25 / 100123
74Chesapeake city VA25 / 100132
75Virginia Beach city VA25 / 100259
76Muscogee County GA25 / 100106
77Mobile County AL16 / 100145

How this ranking works

A county's score is the weighted average of its percentile rank on each measure among the ranked counties (100 is first, 0 is last): openings per 100 unemployed 40%, american job centers 20%, change in unemployment over a year 20%, private-sector job growth since 2022 20%.

Openings are our professional roles placed in the county of the city their posting names; unemployment is BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, not seasonally adjusted; jobs and sectors are BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; population is Census; American Job Centers are from CareerOneStop. The measures and weights are fixed in advance and shown here.

Only counties with at least 20,000 people in the labor force, 100 openings, 500 unemployed people and 50,000 residents are ranked.

Sample bar: counties with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked.

Sources: NextChapter job data: open professional roles by county; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics and Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; CareerOneStop American Job Center directory. Data as of November 2026.

Our job data covers professional roles on the career sites of employers we track, so figures describe that market, not every job. Spot an error? Tell us.

Questions

Which county ranks first: best counties for laid-off professionals in the southeast?
Miami-Dade County is the best all-round county for laid-off professionals in the Southeast, with a score of 91 / 100.
How many counties are ranked?
77 counties have at least 100 openings, so the list has 77 entries.
How is the ranking calculated?
A county's score is the weighted average of its percentile rank on each measure among the ranked counties (100 is first, 0 is last): openings per 100 unemployed 40%, american job centers 20%, change in unemployment over a year 20%, private-sector job growth since 2022 20%. Openings are our professional roles placed in the county of the city their posting names; unemployment is BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, not seasonally adjusted; jobs and sectors are BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; population is Census; American Job Centers are from CareerOneStop. The measures and weights are fixed in advance and shown here. Only counties with at least 20,000 people in the labor force, 100 openings, 500 unemployed people and 50,000 residents are ranked.
How often is it updated?
Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.

More rankings

Cite this ranking

NextChapter, “Best counties for laid-off professionals in the Southeast,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-counties-for-laid-off-professionals-in-the-southeast

Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-counties-for-laid-off-professionals-in-the-southeast">Best counties for laid-off professionals in the Southeast (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>

Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.

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