The Lone Star state isn’t so lonely anymore. This low-tax, low-regulation, low-wage state, attracts plenty of businesses, says Cal State's Bland. (Major employers include AT&T (T), Dell (DELL) and ExxonMobil (XOM).) The job opportunities and low cost of living help keep college students in Texas post-graduation, he says. The state is also home to three metropolitan areas that saw the biggest increase in employment in the country in 2008: Houston, Dallas and San Antonio (in that order). Austin came in fifth. Should the stimulus package pass, expect to see even more jobs in energy and infrastructure, says Milken's DeVol.

Wyoming, Utah, Washington DC-metro area, Oklahoma, Texas. Yeah, except for the fact that you have to live in these god-forsaken places...run along! Git yrself a job, little dogie! Pew. And I'll tell you why: The American Southwest is running out of water. Look at any map of the rainfall in the US, and you will see that much more of it falls east of the Mississippi than west. I have friends with a tiny little yard in San Diego, CA that pay $300/mo to keep their mossy grass a bright greenish-yellow. What are the oil men going to co-opt when the oil gig is up? Water. And you actually need water to live. So my assessment is you are setting yourself up to be pulled up by the short and curlies by the humanitarians that have brought you Afghanistan/Iraq. Good luck with that. Texas has Austin, and that's about it. The rest of the state trades off with Indiana and Florida every few years for the nation's worst water quality. It is a tax haven for companies that are sucking wind. Blockbuster was...(Read more of this comment)