A mining community has struck gold–with tech jobs.

Topping the latest ranking of out Best Cities for Jobs list is Salt Lake City. The Crossroads to the West, an economy that has been predominantly driven by the mining and steel industries, has developed into a service-based city and has become a tech sector hub for digerati migrating from Silicon Valley.

The city also had almost the lowest rate of unemployment in 2006, a tick behind Honolulu, and ranked 19th overall.

To compile the rankings for the Best Cities for Jobs list, we used five data points, weighted equally: unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income and cost of living for full-year 2006 (only partial data is so far available for 2007). We measured the largest 100 metropolitan areas, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, and obtained the data from Moody’s Economy.com.

It’s important to note that this list doesn’t weight for specifics like job composition or job stability, two significant characteristics that will appeal to any job seeker.

Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Moody’s Economy.com, said this ranking shows job market strength but acknowledged these limitations. “There’s nothing directly about quality or stability of a job market [in the ranking],” Zandi said.

“Some years are more volatile. Boom years are followed by years that don’t quite measure up. For most people, a market that is more stable is most desirable, and this analysis doesn’t account for that,” he said.

Raleigh, N.C., led the pack before the full 2006 data were available. (Forbes.com published a Best Cities For Jobs list in February.)

“They’re both strong economies and very solid job markets,” Zandi said of Salt Lake City, versus Raleigh. “It’s Yankees-Red Sox. What’s the difference? There is no real fundamental reason why Salt Lake is now No. 1.”

New to the top 10 are Tulsa, Okla.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Wichita, Kan.; and Oklahoma City for income growth. Las Vegas just missed the top 10 by a spot but showed the second-best job growth. In 2005, it was ranked No. 48.

San Jose, Calif., posted the most significant jump, from No. 91 in 2005 to No. 14 in 2006. The third-largest city in the Golden State has the highest median household income, at $87,869. According to the data, that figure is projected to increase to $92,048 by the end of 2007 and $94,209 in 2008. However, it’s also the priciest city on the list in which to live.

Normally, one might expect the great metropolises of the U.S. to rank higher than they do. New York City, arguably the world’s financial capital, is listed at No. 63, a substantial change from its 99 ranking in 2005. Job growth overall is expected to increase along with job growth in the Big Apple.

San Francisco is at No. 31, up from 86, while Washington, D.C., fell to 32 from No. 5 in 2005.

Raleigh, however, remained among the five best in the job growth category. Phoenix reigned at No. 1, largely because of housing development. Given the recent housing bust, it will most certainly be dethroned in that category. The same goes for Florida–Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale won’t be so prominent for 2007 considering the impact of the downtrodden housing market. The next list will be “almost upside down,” Zandi said.

@IRSTax

From the Social Security website:

You can work while you receive Social Security retirement (or survivors) benefits. When you do, it could mean a higher benefit for you in the future. Higher benefits can be important to you later in life and increase the future benefit amounts your family and your survivors could receive.

While you are working, your earnings will reduce your benefit amount only until you reach your full retirement age. After you reach full retirement age we recalculate your benefit amount to leave out the months when we reduced or withheld benefits due to your excess earnings.

We use a formula to determine how much your benefit must be reduced:

• If you are under full retirement age for the entire year, we deduct $1 from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit.For 2012, that limit is $14,640.
• In the year you reach full retirement age, we deduct $1 in benefits for every $3 you earn above a different limit, but we only count earnings before the month you reach your full retirement age.If you will reach full retirement age in 2012, the limit on your earnings for the months before full retirement age is $38,880.
  (If you were born in 1946 or 1947, your full retirement age is 66 years.)
• Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, you can get your benefits with no limit on your earnings.Caution: If you apply for benefits more than 6 months after you reach full retirement age, we can only pay the benefits for the previous 6 months.

@IRSTax

If your parent (or someone else) can claim you as a dependent, use this guide to see if you must file a return.
In this guide, unearned income includes taxable interest, ordinary dividends, and capital gain distributions. It also includes unemployment
compensation, taxable social security benefits, pensions, annuities, and distributions of unearned income from a trust. Earned income
includes salaries, wages, tips, professional fees, and taxable scholarship and fellowship grants. Gross income is the total of your unearned
and earned income.
Single dependents. Were you either age 65 or older or blind?
No. You must file a return if any of the following apply.
· Your unearned income was over $950.
· Your earned income was over $5,800.
· Your gross income was more than the larger of—
· $950, or
· Your earned income (up to $5,500) plus $300.
Yes. You must file a return if any of the following apply.
· Your unearned income was over $2,400 ($3,850 if 65 or older and blind).
· Your earned income was over $7,250 ($8,700 if 65 or older and blind).
· Your gross income was more than the larger of—
· $2,400 ($3,850 if 65 or older and blind), or
· Your earned income (up to $5,500) plus $1,750 ($3,200 if 65 or older and blind).
Married dependents. Were you either age 65 or older or blind?
No. You must file a return if any of the following apply.
· Your unearned income was over $950.
· Your earned income was over $5,800.
· Your gross income was at least $5 and your spouse files a separate return and itemizes deductions.
· Your gross income was more than the larger of—
· $950, or
· Your earned income (up to $5,500) plus $300.
Yes. You must file a return if any of the following apply.
· Your unearned income was over $2,100 ($3,250 if 65 or older and blind).
· Your earned income was over $6,950 ($8,100 if 65 or older and blind).
· Your gross income was at least $5 and your spouse files a separate return and itemizes deductions.
· Your gross income was more than the larger of—
· $2,100 ($3,250 if 65 or older and blind), or
· Your earned income (up to $5,500) plus $1,450 ($2,600 if 65 or older and blind).