5 Places in Alabama On U.S. News Best-Paying Cities List

ALABAMA — Millions of people in the United States abandoned their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic in search of a career with better benefits and, in some cases, more lucrative pay. If you're considering a similar change, five Alabama cities are among the best-paying cities for one specific job.

U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday released 2022's Best Paying Cities, a list that ranks U.S. cities where workers employed in the country's 100 highest-paying jobs make more than workers in other cities in the same occupation.

Here's a look at the five Alabama cities that ranked in the Top 5 for highest-paying jobs in a specific field, according to data compiled by U.S. News from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Alabama City, Job: Median Salary

• Birmingham, Insurance Sales Agent: $105.840
• Decatur, HR Specialist: $101,590
• Dothan, Management Analyst: $163,720
• Mobile, Computer Programmer: $109,380
• Tuscaloosa, Sports Coach: $92,350

Cities in California dominated this year's list of highest-paying cities. In all, California cities comprise 12 of the top 20 cities.

Here are the top 10 highest-paying cities, according to this year's list:

1. San Francisco, California
2. San Jose, California
3. New York, New York
4. Vallejo, California
5. Santa Rosa, California
6. Seattle, Washington
7. Sacramento, California
8. Los Angeles, California
9. Bridgeport, Connecticut
10 Washington, D.C.

The 2022 list of highest-paying cities annually accompanies the release of U.S. News' Best Jobs rankings.

To calculate this year's best jobs, U.S. News looked at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to identify jobs with the greatest hiring demand. Jobs are then scored in seven areas: 10-year growth volume, 10-year growth percentage, median salary, employment rate, future job prospects, stress level and work-life balance.

Read more about U.S. News' methodology for compiling this year's list.

At a time when healthcare is more critical than ever, jobs in that sector dominate this year's list — 4 out of every 10 of the top 100 highest-paying jobs are in healthcare or related roles.

The rankings offer a look at the best jobs across 17 lists — from sectors such as business and technology — to help job seekers at every level achieve their career goals. They take into account the most important aspects of a job, including growth potential, work-life balance and salary.

Information security analyst captured the No. 1 spot this year, followed by nurse practitioner at No. 2, physician assistant at No. 3 and medical and health services manager at No. 4.

In addition, fashion designer debuted on the list this year, ranking No. 32 for solid scores across all component measures.