America's Best Cities for Six-Figure Jobs

Photo: C. Taylor Crothers | Photographer's Choice | Getty Images Looking to make a six-figure salary this year? Your chance of being among the 10 percent of full-time workers in the U.S. who earn more than $100k a year depends, in part, on where you live. Big pay tends to be concentrated in big cities and their surrounding areas, according to Alex Douzet, president of TheLadders.com, a $100k+ job search site. It is also concentrated in certain sectors, notably finance and information technology, followed by health care, biopharma, engineering, aerospace and defense.To get a sense of where employees have the best chance of making big money, TheLadders analyzed hiring activity across the top 20 metro areas and identified the markets with the most favorable ratio of job seekers to $100k+ job postings. It also highlighted the hottest sectors within each metro area for six-figure salaries.Click ahead to find out where you have the best shot at making top dollar.By Brooke SopelsaPosted 6 May 2010Note: The ratio of job seekers to job postings for each city is rounded to the nearest whole number. The rankings, however, are based on the absolute ratio.

Job Seekers/Job Postings Ratio: 6:1Hot Sectors: Financial Services, Software, IT City SnapshotMedian Salary: $41,219 Median Home Price: $199,200Unemployment Rate: 11.3

Photo: Michael McCloskey | Photodisc | Getty Images Job Seekers/Job Postings Ratio: 5:1Hot Sectors: Energy, Oil & Gas, Engineering, Construction City SnapshotMedian Salary: $37,440 Median Home Price: $153,100Unemployment rate: 8.5

Photo: Kim Blaxland | Stone | Getty Images Job Seekers/Job Postings Ratio: 5:1Hot Sectors: Biotech & Pharma, Financial Services, Health Care City Snapshot Median Salary: $41,766 Median Home Price: $215,900 Unemployment Rate: 9.4

Photo: iStock Job Seekers/Job Postings Ratio: 4:1Hot Sectors: Financial Services, IT, Business Services City SnapshotMedian Salary: $45,101Median Home Price: $382,300Unemployment Rate: 9.3

Photo: Panoramic Images | Getty Images Job Seekers/Job Postings Ratio: 3:1Hot Sectors: Software, IT, Aerospace & Defense City SnapshotMedian Salary: $43,410Median Home Price: $180,500Unemployment Rate: 13.1

Photo: S. Greg Panosian | iStock Exclusive | Getty Images Job Seekers/Job Postings Ratio: 3:1Hot Sectors: Engineering, IT, Financial Services City SnapshotMedian Salary: $41,538Median Home Price: $359,500Unemployment Rate: 11.0

Photo: iStock Job Seekers/Job Postings Ratio: 3:1Hot Sectors: Software, Financial Services, E-Commerce City SnapshotMedian Salary: $46,384Median Home Price: $306,200Unemployment Rate: 9.0

Photo: iStock Job Seekers/Job Postings Ratio: 3:1Hot Sectors: Financial Services, Biotech/Pharma, Software City SnapshotMedian Salary: $45,757Median Home Price: $332,900Unemployment Rate: 8.3

Photo: Travelpix Ltd | Photographer's Choice | Getty Images Job Seekers/Job Postings Ratio:  2:1Hot Sectors: Financial Services, Software, IT City SnapshotMedian Salary: $48,960Median Home Price: $493,300Unemployment Rate: 11.0

Photo: Robert Clare | Taxi | Getty Images Job Seekers/Job Postings Ratio:  2:1Hot Sectors: IT, Aerospace/Defense, Software City SnapshotMedian Salary: $45,671Median Home Price: $308,700Unemployment Rate: 6.7%

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