The 20 Best Cities for New College Graduates
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty
For those of us who graduated in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, it has been tough finding good work, but the job market for young people dramatically began to improve starting around Barack Obama’s second term.
Source: tradingeconomics.com
The overall unemployment rate currently sits at 4.5% and the youth unemployment rate for college graduates is nearly half that at 2.5%. This has lead to a rise in optimism in the youth job market on all fronts, but especially amongst recent graduates. This is borne out in ZipRecruiter’s data that they shared with Paste. According to ZipRecruiter’s query of their database of over 7 million active jobs, 78.9% of new grads are optimistic that they will find a job, and it is likely due at least in part, to the success of the cities below.
38.8% of new graduates said that they were willing to move anywhere for a new job, and if you are part of that group or considering being a part of it, here are the 20 best places to move, and the industries that are thriving in these areas.
1. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
Best industry: Technology
Top job: Software Engineer
Median rent: $1600
2. Kansas City, MO-KS
Best industry: Business
Top job: Account Manager
Median rent: $850
3. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA
Best industry: Technology
Top job: Project Manager
Median rent: $1950