Oklahoma City, OK

Oklahoma City, OK

Overall rank: 3

The Oklahoma City metro area, which includes the state capital, is an oil and natural gas center that is home to Devon Energy and Chesapeake Energy. Employment in the Oklahoma City metro peaked in the fourth quarter of last year. Gross metropolitan product in the second quarter was down just 0.8% from the peak in the last quarter of 2008. Home prices grew 2.1% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. And the unemployment rate in June was 6.6%, up 2.1 points from a year earlier. (Please see below for the various criteria used by the Brookings Institution to determine the overall ranking.)

Job growth (since peak) rank: 7
Gross Metro Product (since peak) rank: 4
Unemployment change (year over year) rank: 4
Home price change (year over year) rank: 23