Rentable\u2019s Cost and Opportunity series has so far helped you weigh the best cities for Bureau of Labor Statistics\u2019 occupation breakdown, these workers are your TV news anchors, photographers, sound engineers, film editors, musicians, dancers, designers, journalists, actors, athletes, and everything in between, including public relations and communications specialists.<\/p>\n
The areas with the most opportunities in this category are typically large metropolitan areas, largely due to existing industry ties and infrastructure. Hollywood, for example, is inextricably linked to the film industry, so it\u2019s no surprise that the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA, area has the highest concentration of arts, media, and entertainment jobs, with nearly 36 out of every 1,000 jobs in that industry.<\/p>\n
New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ; San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA; and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV \u2014 rich in PR specialists and journalists following the District\u2019s politicians \u2014 aren\u2019t far behind, with 24 to 26 out of every 1,000 jobs in the arts and media field.<\/p>\n
But access to job opportunities isn\u2019t the only factor to consider when you\u2019re relocating for a career \u2014 you also need to balance your potential earnings with your potential housing costs. To make this easier, we\u2019ve created our own formula<\/a> to score 76 MSAs nationwide on a weighted balance of median one-bedroom rent, median arts and media worker salary, and job density.<\/p>\n As it turns out, the Los Angeles area is still the entertainment job-seeker\u2019s best bet. The City of Angels\u2019 score of 8.2 is the highest in the country by a margin of nearly three points, largely due to extraordinary arts and media job density. Entertainment and media workers in LA earn a median salary of nearly $63,000 and pay about $1,690 in monthly rent, which earns the MSA an income-to-rent ratio of 3.1. The runner-up, the New York area, has a ratio of 1.99, meaning those professionals are just short of earning twice as much in a year as they\u2019re potentially spending on rent.<\/p>\n Washington, D.C and San Francisco also hold their spots near the top of the list, with Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI, right on their heels, with a total score of 4.7 and a phenomenal income-to-rent ratio of 7.4. New Orleans-Metairie, LA (4.2); Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV (3.9); Columbus, OH<\/a> (3.9); and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA (3.9) round out the top 10, with Austin<\/a>-Round Rock, TX (3.8), and Madison, WI<\/a> (3.6) narrowly missing the top spots.<\/p>\n Another Texas city, Corpus Christi, didn\u2019t quite fare as well, landing in last place with a total score of .9. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario and Bakersfield, CA, also linger near the bottom, barely breaking a score of 1.<\/p>\n