Which Cities are Most Likely and Least Likely to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse

If there were a zombie apocalypse, would your city prevail or be overrun by the walking dead? For a Halloween survey, CareerBuilder conducted a totally scientific and, of course, completely 100 percent feasible, study that gauges survival rates in various cities based on their concentration of particular occupational skills and industries.

The spooky “research” was comprised of a weighted index ranking the 53 largest U.S. metropolitan areas (with more than 1 million residents). A standard (just the standard kind), 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 CareerBuilder’s labor market analysis arm EMSI, which aggregates information from more than 100 national, state and local employment resources. The research is among the most trustworthy when it comes to potential zombie apocalypses. We guess.

For the more scientifically-focused, the index will come in handy when considering that, in a separate and equally practical CareerBuilder study, 36 percent of workers said, if they were a zombie, they would feast on their co-workers. The survey did not note the preferred side items, such as mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, or desserts.

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

[This is revisiting an oldie article, for Halloween…]

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