With graduation season upon us and employers planning to hire nearly 17 percent more graduates from the Class of 2019 than they did from the Class of 2018, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2019’s Best & Worst Places to Start a Career. To help recent graduates launch their careers in the right place, WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities based on 29 key indicators of career-friendliness. The data set ranges from availability of entry-level jobs to monthly average starting salary to housing affordability.
Best Places to Start a Career
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Atlanta, GA
- Orlando, FL
- Austin, TX
- Minneapolis, MN
- Seattle, WA
- Raleigh, NC
- Boston, MA
- Denver, CO
Worst Places to Start a Career
- Jackson, MS (Rank: 173)
- Newport News, VA (Rank: 174)
- Toledo, OH (Rank: 175)
- New Haven, CT (Rank: 176)
- Pearl City, HI (Rank: 177)
- Oxnard, CA (Rank: 178)
- Bridgeport, CT (Rank: 179)
- Hialeah, FL (Rank: 180)
- Montgomery, AL (Rank: 181)
- Shreveport, LA (Rank: 182)
Best vs. Worst
- Tacoma, Washington, has the highest monthly average starting salary (adjusted for cost of living), $3,816, which is 2.8 times higher than in Honolulu and Pearl City, Hawaii, the cities with the lowest at $1,382.
- Gilbert, Arizona, has the highest median annual household income (adjusted for cost of living), $89,903, which is 3.4 times higher than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the lowest at $26,281.
- West Valley City, Utah, has the highest workforce diversity, which is 2.3 times higher than in New Haven, Connecticut, the city with the lowest.
- South Burlington, Vermont, has the lowest unemployment rate, 1.70 percent, which is 4.8 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 8.10 percent.
- Dover, Delaware has the fastest job growth (adjusted for population growth), followed by West Valley City, Utah and Columbia, South Carolina. South Burlington, Vermont has the slowest job growth.
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa has the most affordable housing, while New York, New York has the least affordable housing.
- Orlando, Florida has the most entry-level jobs, while Santa Clarita, California has the least.
See the full study here: https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-cities-to-start-a-career/3626/