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America's best city for graduates REVEALED: The state capital that beats NYC and San Francisco for YOUR career kickoff
Recent graduates have flocked to New York City's skyscrapers and San Francisco's tech startups to kickstart their careers.
Those two hubs remain reliable places to enter the job market — but there are better metro areas, a new study shows.
Raleigh, in North Carolina, has ranked as the best place for graduates to launch their careers.
That's because the state capital has a strong economy, decent jobs, and relatively cheap housing and other living costs.
Baltimore, Austin, Atlanta, and Charlotte rounded out the top five, in ADP Research Institute's study.
Raleigh, NC, has a strong economy, decent jobs, and relatively cheap housing and other living costs.
Graduates flock to New York City and San Francisco for jobs, but could do well to look elsewhere
New York City and San Francisco scored in the top ten, but were downgraded by their eye-watering rents and living costs.
'Areas with the greatest balance of wages, affordability, and hiring aren't stereotypical tech and financial centers such as San Francisco, San Jose, or Seattle,' researchers said.
Researcher Ben Hanowell says graduates should think outside the box
'They're places in the South with strong science and technology employment, including Raleigh, Baltimore, Austin, and Atlanta.'
The survey comes as some four million people graduate from college this year, and most of them start looking for work and a place to lay down roots.
The jobs market is strong right now, but is tighter for the skilled positions that graduates seek.
Researchers analyzed data on more than 4 million 20- to 29-year-olds at some 27,000 employers, from January 2019 through April 2024.
They focussed on the 55 US metro areas with more than one million residents.
Raleigh took the top spot because it is relatively cheap — the average monthly rent is $1,577 for a 950 sq ft apartment.
That's less than half what graduates typically pay for digs in New York City or San Francisco.
Also, there are plenty of decent jobs up for grabs, thanks in part to Raleigh's so-called 'research triangle,' which includes its three universities and roughly 300 science and tech companies.
Salaries for 20-something workers in Raleigh are roughly $52,000 per year.
Earnings are not as high as they are elsewhere, but Raleigh remains competitive, ranking in the top fifth, the report says.
It also has a pleasant climate, small-town vibe, decent restaurants, and is a good place to start a family.
The Baltimore area came in second place, thanks to its reasonable wages and high hiring rate for graduates.
Raleigh's so-called 'research triangle' features its three universities and some 300 science and tech companies.
Charlotte, North Carolina, ranked fifth, thanks to opportunities, decent earnings and lower-than-average living costs.
The top-ranking cities has a large 'sweet spot' of decent wages, hiring, and affordability.
Destination city San Francisco made it into the top 10 thanks to its higher wages, even though the cost of living is high.
The Maryland city has ample openings in science, technology, engineering, and math jobs due to the presence of Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland and other top tier institutions, researchers found.
Fast-growing Austin ranked in third place.
The Texas boomtown has a large-and-growing technology sector, with major hubs for Tesla, Google, Dell, Apple, IBM, Meta, and other leading companies.
Ben Hanowell, the group's research director, said recent graduates would do well to think outside the box and start their job search beyond New York and the West Coast technology hubs.
'There are metro areas where you could command high wages as a recent grad, but they're not affordable and hiring isn't robust, so that's the trade-off you're making,' Hanowell told CBS News.
He pointed to Seattle, Washington, where wages are higher than 87 percent of the 55 biggest US metro areas.
But it has a low hiring rate compared to other cities and is relatively expensive, with rent averaging at $2,200 for a 700 sq ft apartment, according to Rent Cafe.
'The median wage is an estimated $56,000, but once that's adjusted for the cost of living, it feels like $49,000,' said Hanowell.
'That's one way to look at these trade-offs.'
The study also indicated the cities graduates would do well to avoid.
Of all major US metro areas, Rochester, in upstate New York, came last.
The rust belt city is relatively affordable, but low wages and a lack of jobs make it a bad place to start a career.
Virginia Beach, New Orleans, Fresno, and Portland rounded out the worst five cities for job-seeking graduates.