Author Image: Joni Sweet

Joni Sweet

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#9. NEW YORK | 2000-2019 median rent growth: 94.8% | Median rent: $672 in 2000; $1,309 in 2019 | 2000-2019 median household income growth: 77% | Median household income: $40,744 in 2000; $72,108 in 2019 | New York City has earned a reputation as being a notoriously expensive place to rent an apartment, with housing prices continuing to climb over the past two decades. However, the pandemic may be offering some relief for renters in the Big Apple, which saw median rents for one-bedroom apartments fall by nearly 15% from September 2019 to September 2020, according to a report from Douglas Elliman. The state has an eviction moratorium in place through Jan. 1, 2021.
It's clear that immigrants to the U.S. bring along an entrepreneurial spirit—business-ownership is how 10.5% of the immigrant workforce makes a living, compared with just 9.3% of the U.S.-born workforce, according to a 2012 report from the SBA. Their companies tend to make about 70% of the annual sales of non-immigrant owned businesses, though.
SOUTH DAKOTA | Total WalletHub score: 35.7
| Dependency on travel and tourism industry rank: #26
| Aggressiveness against coronavirus rank: #51

South Dakota is seeing a 70% drop in visitor spending during the pandemic, according to comments made by Yankton Convention & Visitor's Bureau director Kasi Haberman. However, its state parks are still open, which is helping insulate some tourism markets from the financial impact of the coronavirus.
#7. Peace Corps | - 2019 employee engagement score: 80.7 (30.8% higher than government-wide score)
- 2018 employee engagement score: 79.8
- One-year score change +0.9
- Agency workforce size: Small

The Peace Corps runs a service program that places volunteers in more than 60 countries around the world. It ranks highly as a place to work for effective leadership, employee skills-mission match, and teamwork.

[Pictured: U.S. Peace Corp volunteer Danielle Carrillo addresses other Corp volunteers in Siem Reap, Cambodia.]