Where to get general macro data for out of state investing

[Patrick Britton]

Hi,

I live in WA state and was wondering where I would go to look at employment, income and population trends across the country.  I am considering investing somewhere in the mid-west (MI, OH, IO, WI, IL, etc.) and am taking a top-down approach.  So i'll start with state, then county, then city, etc., 

I would prefer to invest in areas where there's decent population and employment growth, so where's the best resource to get this general data?

[Andrew Johnson]

Patrick Britton I really simple place to start is Wikipedia. They scrape (I believe) the population demographics, growth rates, family income, per capita income, etc. And you'll see a few added articles (generally) about major employers, etc. so it's an super simple starting point. I don't know if it's ever made me think an area is "good" but it helps me clear out likely "bad" areas.

And if I was looking at getting a pulse for employment I'd just do a simple job search on Indeed or Google's new job engine. Don't get me wrong, it's not comprehensive, but after a couple of pages of scanning you can see the kind of jobs that are open: Software Engineer vs. Parking Lot Attendant. And it doesn't hurt (if you aren't familiar with "large employers) to see if there are any brand names to recognize.