We looked at about twenty of our most popular professional tests, from AP Style to Python and from investment banking to Illustrator. We split the US into five geographical regions: the Northeast, the Midwest, the South, the Rockies and Plains, and the West Coast. Then we found the average score in each skill both nationally and within each region. Comparing these numbers allowed us to see which skills each region was better at than everyone else. Based on the two worst skills in each region, we started to get a picture of the jobs that aren’t easy to fill in that part of the country. We took this knowledge to US Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment data by position, and combed through for job categories that matched the skills each region lacked. Then we compared the regional unemployment rate for that position to the regional unemployment rate overall, and finally to the national rate.