Tooele County is tops in job growth

Tooele County ranks No. 1 in the nation in job growth over the past six years, according to CNN Money Magazine.

Job growth in the county increased by 112.5 percent from 2000 to 2006, nearly 16 percent better than second-place Sumter County, Fla.

Job growth is one of the factors Money Magazine uses in its annual 100 Best Places to Live rankings. Cottonwood Heights was the lone Utah city to crack the top 100 — at No. 100 — in the overall rankings.

Money Magazine touts Tooele County as being "near full employment," with wages "growing at an above-average rate."

Boosting those efforts is a plan by Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Technologies Inc. to build a $325 million metals plant that will employ about 150 at an average salary of $45,000.