{"h1":"Best county job markets for job seekers in the Great Lakes","faq":[{"a":"Union County is the best all-round county for job seekers in the Great Lakes, with a score of 96 / 100.","q":"Which county ranks first: best county job markets for job seekers in the great lakes?"},{"a":"52 counties have at least 100 openings, so the list has 52 entries.","q":"How many counties are ranked?"},{"a":"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 30%, unemployment rate 25%, private-sector job growth since 2022 25%, population growth since 2020 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.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"Union County is the best all-round county for job seekers in the Great Lakes, with a score of 96 / 100.","minN":100,"rows":[{"n":259,"bar":1,"key":"39159","sub":"OH","href":"/places/ohio/county/union-county","name":"Union County","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Openings per 100 unemployed","value":"23"},{"label":"Unemployment rate","value":"2.9%"},{"label":"Private-sector job growth since 2022","value":"+10.9%"}],"value":95.58823529411765,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"96 / 100"},{"n":622,"bar":0.9076923076923078,"key":"55025","sub":"WI","href":"/places/wisconsin/county/dane-county","name":"Dane County","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Openings per 100 unemployed","value":"7"},{"label":"Unemployment rate","value":"2.5%"},{"label":"Private-sector job growth since 2022","value":"+3.6%"}],"value":86.76470588235296,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"87 / 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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."],"builtAt":"2026-11-04T03:37:37.436Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"coverall","sources":["NextChapter job data: open professional roles by county","Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics and Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages","Census Bureau population estimates"],"baseline":null,"keyFacts":["#1 Union County, OH: 96 / 100","#2 Dane County, WI: 87 / 100","#3 Greene County, OH: 85 / 100","52 counties ranked in the Great Lakes","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"counties","commentary":["The top ten is tightly packed: Union County leads on 96 / 100, and #10 Hamilton County is at 70 / 100.","Franklin County is the largest market in the top ten, with 2,497 openings behind its figure.","Counties with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful."],"license":"Free to use and share with a link to https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-county-job-markets-in-the-great-lakes"}