don't mess with the texas economy

Fiscal responsibility is something we take seriously down here in the Lone Star State -- so much so that state law requires a balanced budget.

Mike Shires at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy, who develops the annual "Best Cities for Jobs" survey called this year "an awful year." Chances are good if you're not a government employee, you're hurting.

One other exception might be if you're living in Texas. The economy isn't what it used to be, but Texas has managed to avoid the massive bleeding that many other states have not. Half of the top-10 cities named on the Pepperdine list hail from the Lone Star State.

So without further ado, here's the list of the best cities for jobs:

# 1 - Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
# 2 - San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
# 3 - Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
# 4 - Northern Virginia, VA
# 5 - Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX
# 6 - Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

# 7 - Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

# 8 - Raleigh-Cary, NC
# 9 - Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE

# 10 - New York City, NY