They might face traffic gridlock and soaring housing costs but Sydney's job seekers have far better employment prospects than those in the rest of the state.
There was an average of 3.6 job seekers for every advertised job vacancy in Sydney in March compared with 6.7 nationally and eight in regional NSW, a report by job search engine Adzuna has found.
Sydney had 95 per cent of the state's finance sector job advertisements, 82 per cent of trade and construction job advertisements, 80 per cent of hospitality industry job advertisements and 78 per cent of teaching job advertisements.
"Just hours out of Sydney in areas like the Illawarra, Newcastle and Riverina, job vacancies are scarce and competition for roles is fierce," said Adzuna's chief executive, Raife Watson.
The job vacancy figures underscore the recent strength of the Sydney economy compared with the rest of the state.
The city's economy grew by 4.5 per cent in 2015-16, the best in 16 years and the third-highest on record. The remainder of NSW grew at just 0.4 per cent in that period.
Analysis by the consultancy SGS Economics and Planing shows that three Sydney districts - the CBD, the inner northern suburbs and the Ryde district - delivered 24 per cent of Australia's gross domestic product growth last financial year.
Sydney's GDP per capita was $32,200 higher than regional NSW in 2015-16, the biggest difference on record.
The jobs report by Adzuna, which his jointly owned by Fairfax Media, helps explain this disparity.
It found salary levels in almost all job sectors were significantly higher in Sydney compared with other parts of the state.
Salaries for jobs advertised in Newcastle's trade and construction sector ($68,481) were about 35 per cent less than those in Sydney ($105,845).
Healthcare is the only industry where job seekers can expect a higher salary in regional NSW ($122,688) compared to Sydney at ($104,364).
"This can be explained by the much higher rates of pay for locum doctors in regional Australia," the report said.
Mr Watson said that while the cost of living was lower in regional Australia, the salary disparity compared to capital cities "still leaves a considerable shortfall" for those living outside metropolitan areas.
In Melbourne there were 6.1 job seekers for every advertised job vacancy in March but the ratio rose to 10.4 in regional Victoria.
Nationally the number of job seekers per job advertisement was 6.7 this month, up from 5.75 in March last year.
Sydney's ratio of job seekers to job advertisements was unchanged compared with a year earlier.
