Both culturally and economically, Syracuse in New York is an ideal place to live in. In 2010, it was rated by Forbes as the 4th best place to raise a family in the USA. Syracuse is the fifth largest city in New York State, with a population of about 147,000. In recent times, Syracuse has been showing signs of rapid growth and has even equalled New York City for highest job growth. This good news is attributed to the expansion of prominent educational institutes like the Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University. Moreover, an area in Syracuse known as University Hill has also been expanding rapidly by adding businesses and residential complexes by the dozen. Syracuse is home to several excellent universities, colleges and professional schools. Such is Syracuse University, a major research university that had a whooping 19,084 students enrolled for the 2006-2007 academic year.
Most of the city’s top employers are in the educational and service industries, which tend to be more stable than manufacturing companies. Since Syracuse has several small business enterprises rather than a few big businesses, competition is both healthy and stable in the city. The cost of doing business in Syracuse was also ranked as the sixth lowest in America, making the city a good place to invest in. The city’s cost of living is also regarded as relatively low, which makes it a good place to start. Since Upstate Medical University is the top employer in the city, there is a natural high concentration of medical facilities in Rochester. This has placed nursing as the most popular career choice in the city. There are currently 6,000 men and women working in Syracuse as registered nurses and earning up to $86,000 annually. There is also a good number of medical service managers as well as elementary and high school teachers in the city.