Unsurprisingly, the majority of the U.S.' job growth over the past five years has been centered in large metro areas like Los Angeles and New York. What might be surprising is how the majority of those newly created jobs are either "mid-wage" or "low-wage" jobs, here defined as those that pay under $21.14 an hour. In a study conducted by CityLab's Richard Florida based on facts compiled by the economic data modeling firm Emsi, Florida notes that: 

Low-wage jobs accounted for the largest increase in new jobs between 2011 and 2016, adding 4.5 million jobs, compared to 4.1 million high-wage jobs and 3.5 million mid-wage jobs. Low-wage jobs accounted for 34 percent of jobs in 2016 (a total of 48.2 million jobs), while mid-wage jobs accounted for 29 percent (a total of 40.7 million jobs)...

The top ten metros for job growth are a mix of knowledge-based and service-based metros. The tech hub of Provo, Utah, tops the list with a 26.8 percent increase in jobs; Austin (21.9 percent), San Jose (21.3 percent), San Francisco (19 percent), and Raleigh (18.5 percent) also number among the top ten. Cape Coral-Fort Myers (25.8 percent), Orlando (19.6 percent), and North Point-Sarasota (18.9 percent) in Florida and Riverside (19.3 percent) and Stockton (18.2 percent) in California complete the top ten.

Browse architecture salaries around the USA and abroad in Archinect's Salary Poll. 

For more on how to land a (hopefully high-wage) job:

• An expert's thoughts on how to negotiate, at any point in your career
• The Architecture Job Application Hints & Suggestions from Employers: Part II
• There are tons of architecture job openings these days. Why aren't you hired yet?