News
Blog | 3 min read
Greater Richmond tops U.S. metros in 2025 job posting growth
December 22, 2025
A resilient labor market and booming healthcare sector propel the region ahead of peer metros in 2025
Greater Richmond has outpaced major U.S. cities this year in job postings, according to Indeed’s Job Postings Index, which measures the level of job postings on Indeed relative to February 1, 2020. While labor markets in many large metros have started to cool, Greater Richmond continues to show sustained momentum in postings. Since February 1, 2020, job postings in the Richmond Region have increased by 18.1%, outperforming the U.S. average by 13.4 percentage points over the same period.
When compared to its benchmark metros, or regions that Greater Richmond regularly competes with for new business investment, the Richmond Region ranks first for 2025. From January 2025 through December 2025, Greater Richmond consistently recorded higher job postings growth than all peer metros, driven primarily by significant growth in the healthcare and social assistance sector.
Gaines fueled by the healthcare sector
Greater Richmond’s standout performance in this year’s Job Postings Index reflects a strong year of employment growth in the region’s healthcare sector. From 2024 to 2025, the Richmond Region added 2,641 jobs in the Health Care and Social Assistance industry, bringing total employment in the sector to 103,035. Employment in healthcare is growing in the region at an annual rate of 2.6%, contributing to increased job posting activity across the region. Looking ahead, total labor demand in the healthcare sector is projected to reach 10,724 positions over the next year, reflecting an additional 0.8% growth rate and employment growth of over 800 new jobs.
Greater Richmond surpasses peer metros
The following chart tracks Indeed’s Job Postings Index for Greater Richmond and its benchmark metros from February 1, 2020 through 2025. The index is normalized to 100 at the start of the pandemic, allowing for a direct comparison of job postings across regions over time. Richmond outperforms all benchmarked metros beginning in January 2025 through the end of December 2025.
Data Trends
- Richmond’s 2025 outperformance stands out
- While most benchmark metros show continued softening or flat job posting trends in 2024-2025, Richmond’s index remains higher relative to peers.
- By 2025, Richmond clearly sits at or near the top of the peer group, indicating stronger ongoing hiring demand than benchmark metros.
- Common pandemic and post-pandemic pattern, but different recovery paths
- All metros experienced a sharp decline in early 2020, followed by a strong rebound through 2021 and a peak in 2022.
- Since 2023, most large metros, including New York and Washington, D.C., have seen a more pronounced pullback.
- Richmond’s decline has been more modest, with job postings stabilizing at a higher level than peers.
- Large coastal metros show the most pronounced slowdown
- New York and Washington, D.C., exhibit the steepest long-term declines from their 2021-2022 peaks, suggesting cooling labor demand in higher-cost, more mature markets.
- Greater Richmond, along with a few Sun Belt peers, demonstrated greater resilience.
- Competitive advantage in sustained hiring
- Richmond’s sustained job posting activity aligns with recent employment gains, particularly in Health Care and Social Assistance, and reinforces the region’s competitiveness for new talent.
- The region’s ability to maintain hiring momentum while peers slow is a strong signal for employers evaluating expansion or relocation.
Bottom line
Even as job postings normalize nationwide, Greater Richmond continues to outperform its benchmark metros. Its strong, stable posting activity in 2025 underscores a resilient labor market and reinforces the region’s attractiveness for investment and workforce growth.
