10 best states to find jobs

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A "Now Hiring" sign is displayed during a Job News USA career fair at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., on Wednesday, May 18, 2016. The U.S. Department of Labor is scheduled to release initial jobless claims figures on May 19. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

Job hunting is never easy, but even with the tight job market some states are boasting tremendous opportunities to start and grow a career. Benefits managers in these states will need to create strategies to build a strong benefits package to help find and keep the best talent.

Personal-finance website WalletHub recently released a ranking of states with the best job opportunities. To determine its list, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 24 key indicators of job-market strength, opportunity and economic vitality.

Those sections were filtered into two major categories: job market (which includes metrics such as job opportunities, employment growth and job satisfaction) and economic environment (which includes factors such as median annual income, average number of hours in a work week and earned income-tax credit). WalletHub used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor and Gallup-Healthways.

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10. Rhode Island

Total score: 60.79 (out of 100)
Job market rank: 17 (out of 50)
Economic environment rank: 7 (out of 50)
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9. California

Total score: 60.84
Job market rank: 7
Economic environment rank: 25
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8. New Jersey

Total score: 62.92
Job market rank: 28
Economic environment rank: 2
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7. Delaware

Total score: 63.83
Job market rank: 6
Economic environment rank: 14
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Flag of the US state of New Hampshire on a brushed metal backgound
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5. New Hampshire

Total score: 64.40
Job market rank: 5
Economic environment rank: 9
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4. Vermont

Total score: 64.73
Job market rank: 3
Economic environment rank: 18
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3. Colorado

Total score: 66.82
Job market rank: 2
Economic environment rank: 12
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Flag of the US state of Washington on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

2. Washington

Total score: 68.26
Job market rank: 11
Economic environment rank: 1
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1. Massachusetts

Total score: 71.88
Job market rank: 1
Economic environment rank: 16
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