Looking for the best location to jump-start your career? Give Atlanta a try. The Peach City earned the No. 9 spot on Forbes 2016 ranking of Best Places for Business and Career.

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The publication crunched numbers on the 200 largest US metro areas by population and rated them based on 14 metrics related to job growth, costs (business and living), income growth, quality of life and the education of the labor force.

Forbes drew data from Moody's Analytics, demographer Bert Sperling, who runs Sperling's Best Places, the U.S. Census and factored in laws that protect people from employment discrimination based on sexual and/or gender identity.

Atlanta's No. 9 ranking was based on its metro population of 5,723,300, its gross metro production of $313 billion and a projected annual gross metro production growth of 3.5 percent.

"The fifth biggest metro in the U.S., Atlanta has a huge cadre of colleges and universities that feed the Atlanta-based headquarters of Coca-ColaHome DepotUPS and Delta Air Lines," the site said.

Curious to see how other cities fared? For a complete look at the rankings, click here.

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Trains line the tracks during Tracks of Hope, an event hosted by Norfolk Southern in support of Hope Atlanta, in Forest Park, on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. Norfolk Southern has become a prominent corporate citizen in the metro region, donating millions to charitable causes. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

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