Bullish on jobs? These 10 cities are.

Nationally, the employment outlook is starting to brighten with a 1.5 percent rise in the number of jobs in the past year. But some metropolitan areas have seen triple that rate of job growth. No, it's not Boston or Silicon Valley. The Top 10 job-growth metros in 2011 were midsize places. Who's No. 1? Here's a hint: Even if you've heard of it, you've probably confused it with a much larger college town in an adjacent state. Here's the countdown of Top 10 metro areas for job growth in 2011:

- Meredith Bennett-Smith, Contributor

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Taylor Baker stops to say hello to her five-month-old daughter, Graesyn Steinkoenig, last month at Cummins Childcare Center in Columbus, Ind. Cummins, a leading global manufacturer of engines, has been a mainstay of employment for the metro area, which has seen a 6.4 percent spurt of jobs – tops among all US metro areas. ( Andrew Laker/The Republic/AP/File)

1. Columbus, Ind.: +6.4 percent

No, this is not the home of the Buckeyes and Ohio State University. It's the much smaller Columbus next door in Indiana. With a 10 percent growth spurt from 2009 to 2010, Columbus has not only outstripped the rest of Indiana, it has seen the fourth-largest economic rebound among all the metro areas since the Great Recession. Its unemployment rate dropped from 9.6 percent two years ago to 7.0 percent in December. That's more than a full percentage point below the national average and the lowest rate of any metro area in Indiana. Its secret: manufacturing. Maneuvering itself to compete in international as well as national markets, Columbus is home to Cummins, a Fortune 500 company that sells its engines in 160 countries. The industry giant is planning on expanding in Columbus, with a new downtown office building. A nearby Honda plant recently hired 1,000 new workers, is helping the job market as well. Fully a third of the metro’s jobs are in manufacturing, triple the national average. Located on the east fork of the White River, the city has undergone a noticeable downtown revitalization and is renowned for its modern architecture. Columbus was also one of the top American cities in a recent National Geographic Traveler ranking of destinations that had preserved their historic character.