​Report: Montgomery Ranks Lowest in Illinois for Part-Time Jobs

MONTGOMERY, IL - On a list that weighs the job-seeker friendliness of 162 Illinois areas, Montgomery lands smack dab in the middle.

Personal-finance website WalletHub gave the village a total score of 54.83, placing it in the 84th slot on the overall 2016 Best & Worst Illinois Cities for Jobs list. It ranks 60th for the quality of its job market. Libertyville, the No. 1 city in the overall lineup, earning a total score of 68.35.

Scores consider 16 indicators of labor market health and include factors such as employment growth, median monthly starting salaries and unemployment growth. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with the weighted sum of each city’s individual-metric scores comprising its overall score, which we used to construct the final ranking, according to WalletHub's methodology.

The report specifies that Montgomery has the lowest number of part-time employees for every 100 full-time employees, 42.08. That number is six times lower than that of Carbondale, the city with the highest at 234.78.

Other key findings from the report are:

• Frankfort has the lowest unemployment rate for high school graduates, 2.3 percent, which is 11 times lower than in Harvey, the city with the highest, at 25.5 percent.
• Sterling has the lowest unemployment rate for residents with at least a bachelor’s degree, 0.5 percent, which is 38 times lower than in East St. Louis, the city with the highest, at 18.8 percent.
• Plainfield has the highest median annual income (adjusted for cost of living), $93,728, which is five times higher than in Carbondale, the city with the lowest, $19,641.

Here is a look at the best, and the worst, Illinois cities for jobs:

Best Illinois Cities for Jobs

1. Libertyville
2. Grayslake
3. Frankfort
4. Northbrook
5. Vernon Hills
6. Schaumburg
7. Deerfield
8. South Elgin
9. Lemont
10. Downers Grove

Worst Illinois Cities for Jobs

• 153: Maywood
• 154: Granite City
• 155: Park Forest
• 156: Chicago Heights
• 157: Carbondale
• 158: Kankakee
• 159: Dolton
• 160: Calumet City
• 161: East St. Louis
• 162: Harvey

Waukegan, North Chicago and Zion have the highest monthly median starting salary, which is adjusted by cost of living, at $3,440.40. This amount is three times higher than in Hinsdale, the city with the lowest, at $1,697, according to WalletHub.

For the full report and to see where your city ranks, visit WalletHub.com.

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