Chesapeake, Va.

Share of jobs in strong industries: 36.9%
Number of workers: 106,626
Metro area unemployment rate: 4.6%
Agriculture jobs: 0.48%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical jobs (legal, accounting etc.): 5.99%
Education jobs: 10.57%
Health-care jobs: 10.95%
Public Administration (Government) jobs: 8.94%

Chesapeake could be somewhat protected from the downturn because of its location just 15 minutes from Norfolk, the home of the world's largest U.S. naval base and Old Dominion University.