CHICAGO and ATLANTA – October 27, 2016 – If there was a zombie apocalypse, would your city prevail or be overrun by the walking dead? Just in time for Halloween, CareerBuilder is answering this question with a totally practical and 100 percent feasible study that gauges survival rates based on concentration of occupational skills and industries.
INFOGRAPHIC: https://cb.com/Zombie2016
The research is comprised of a weighted index ranking the 53 largest U.S. metropolitan areas (with more than 1 million residents). A standard, flesh-eating virus transmitted via biting or contact with infected blood is assumed. The index is scored on eight different factors in four categories: ability to defend against the virus, ability to contain the virus, ability to find a cure and ability to outlast the epidemic with an ample food supply. The study is based on data from Emsi, CareerBuilder’s labor market analysis arm, which aggregates information from more than 100 national, state and local employment resources.
The index will come in handy considering that, in a separate and equally practical CareerBuilder study1, 36 percent of workers said, if they were a zombie, they would feast on their co-workers.
See the following chart to see where your city would rank in winning the battle against the living dead:
MSA |
Defense Score |
Containment Score |
Cure Score |
Food Score |
Total Score |
Final Rank |
Boston, MA |
13.69 |
11.05 |
20 |
3.59 |
48.33 |
1 |
Kansas City, MO |
23.38 |
10.02 |
4.53 |
3.10 |
41.03 |
2 |
Salt Lake City, UT |
8.29 |
18.61 |
10.49 |
3.62 |
41.01 |
3 |
Baltimore, MD |
17.55 |
7.68 |
11.56 |
2.79 |
39.58 |
4 |
San Diego, CA |
16.44 |
9.89 |
11.69 |
1.41 |
39.43 |
5 |
Seattle, WA |
9.58 |
17.86 |
8.45 |
1.99 |
37.88 |
6 |
Denver, CO |
7.82 |
20.03 |
6.39 |
3.58 |
37.82 |
7 |
Virginia Beach, VA |
22.38 |
10.61 |
2.76 |
1.79 |
37.54 |
8 |
Hartford, CT |
17.28 |
9.07 |
5.80 |
3.32 |
35.47 |
9 |
Minneapolis, MN |
17.51 |
8.19 |
5.57 |
3.94 |
35.21 |
10 |
Indianapolis, IN |
8.73 |
9.39 |
10.79 |
5.01 |
33.92 |
11 |
Richmond, VA |
14.61 |
11.16 |
4.73 |
3.38 |
33.89 |
12 |
Grand Rapids, MI |
0.08 |
9.73 |
2.08 |
20 |
31.89 |
13 |
San Francisco, CA |
6.43 |
8.97 |
14.86 |
1.48 |
31.73 |
14 |
Portland, OR |
3.71 |
13.41 |
6.35 |
8.01 |
31.48 |
15 |
Washington, D.C. |
16.55 |
7.96 |
6.80 |
0 |
31.31 |
16 |
Sacramento, CA |
8.80 |
12.29 |
4.77 |
4.99 |
30.85 |
17 |
Pittsburgh, PA |
5.98 |
13.38 |
7.26 |
3.60 |
30.22 |
18 |
San Jose, CA |
5.74 |
15.02 |
8.17 |
1.09 |
30.02 |
19 |
Raleigh, NC |
7.70 |
12.22 |
4.89 |
4.18 |
28.98 |
20 |
Orlando, FL |
9.44 |
9.55 |
3.53 |
6.03 |
28.55 |
21 |
Memphis, TN |
14.07 |
2.96 |
5.15 |
6.26 |
28.43 |
22 |
Louisville, KY |
11.56 |
6.76 |
2.03 |
8.04 |
28.39 |
23 |
Cleveland, OH |
10.36 |
4.24 |
8.02 |
5.32 |
27.93 |
24 |
Birmingham, AL |
9.84 |
6.73 |
5.29 |
5.51 |
27.37 |
25 |
Oklahoma City, OK |
8.25 |
10.69 |
6.53 |
1.55 |
27.01 |
26 |
St. Louis, MO |
13.96 |
8.24 |
2.99 |
1.62 |
26.81 |
27 |
Houston, TX |
6.08 |
15.92 |
2.71 |
1.37 |
26.09 |
28 |
New Orleans, LA |
13.55 |
8.85 |
2.12 |
1.23 |
25.75 |
29 |
Phoenix, AZ |
12.81 |
7.39 |
1.96 |
3.44 |
25.59 |
30 |
Charlotte, NC |
8.65 |
6.12 |
0.50 |
9.78 |
25.06 |
31 |
Las Vegas, NV |
15.84 |
6.20 |
0.68 |
1.44 |
24.16 |
32 |
Columbus, OH |
7.88 |
7.59 |
6.03 |
2.50 |
24.01 |
33 |
Providence, RI |
8.82 |
5.37 |
4.19 |
4.85 |
23.23 |
34 |
Austin, TX |
5.83 |
12.13 |
4.45 |
0.70 |
23.11 |
35 |
Cincinnati, OH |
5.46 |
5.63 |
5.16 |
6.62 |
22.87 |
36 |
Rochester, NY |
5.16 |
4.92 |
3.87 |
8.69 |
22.64 |
37 |
Nashville, TN |
8.53 |
7.15 |
3.77 |
2.89 |
22.34 |
38 |
Milwaukee, WI |
6.29 |
7.48 |
4.09 |
3.95 |
21.81 |
39 |
Dallas, TX |
7.66 |
7.50 |
2.12 |
4.53 |
21.80 |
40 |
San Antonio, TX |
9.88 |
4.27 |
1.95 |
5.48 |
21.58 |
41 |
Philadelphia, PA |
8.53 |
1.18 |
7.46 |
3.90 |
21.07 |
42 |
Jacksonville, FL |
11.40 |
6.04 |
1.63 |
1.27 |
20.33 |
43 |
Detroit, MI |
2.03 |
14.50 |
2.10 |
1.32 |
19.94 |
44 |
Chicago, IL |
9.74 |
0.63 |
2.34 |
6.73 |
19.44 |
45 |
Tucson, AZ |
10.88 |
1.59 |
6.40 |
0.52 |
19.40 |
46 |
Buffalo, NY |
10.23 |
3.35 |
3.38 |
1.83 |
18.80 |
47 |
Atlanta, GA |
6.73 |
5.87 |
2.65 |
3.30 |
18.56 |
48 |
Miami, FL |
12.67 |
1.10 |
1.57 |
2.78 |
18.11 |
49 |
Riverside, CA |
4.44 |
4.99 |
0 |
7.30 |
16.72 |
50 |
Los Angeles, CA |
7.37 |
0.68 |
3.89 |
1.70 |
13.65 |
51 |
Tampa, FL |
6.07 |
2.33 |
2.97 |
1.52 |
12.89 |
52 |
New York City, NY |
12.44 |
-10.08 |
4.33 |
1.99 |
8.69 |
53 |
1 National Harris Poll study of more than 3,100 workers in September 2016, commissioned by CareerBuilder.
About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the only end-to-end human capital management company covering the entire candidate lifecycle and employee lifecycle for businesses. As the global leader in its industry, CareerBuilder specializes in cutting-edge HR software as a service to help companies with every step of talent acquisition and management. CareerBuilder works with top employers across industries, providing solutions for talent and labor market analytics, job distribution, candidate sourcing, tracking, onboarding, HRIS, benefits administration and compliance. It also operates leading job sites around the world. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE:TRCO) and McClatchy (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.
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