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Top 10 Cities for Recent Grads

By Gradspot Dot Com
5/04/10
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One of the most liberating realizations of recent grad-dom is that as soon as you leave campus, you are free to look for a job anywhere in the country—or just move to a new city without one if you’ve got the gumption. Of course, your decision about where to settle down (at least temporarily) after graduation will be complicated by a number of x-factors, like where your boyfriend or girlfriend lives, how much of a mama’s boy/girl you are, and what you can afford. But there’s also something to be said for taking a risk on a town that appeals to your gut instinct, or one that serves as a hub for the industry you want to join.

[Photo by wwworks]

To help you brainstorm the Big Move, we've talked to recent grads across the country and trolled the 'net for both census data and meaningless trivia to bring you:

Gradspot.com's Top 10 Cities for Recent Grads >

Note: Needless to say, rental prices vary drastically within cities. We have provided the average monthly cost of a one-bedroom apartment in each city to serve as a quick barometer of the housing market/cost of living. However, there are a ton of factors that influence this number, so take into account the context. For example, a one-bedroom in New York will probably be a lot smaller than a one-bedroom in Atlanta or Houston, and in all cities costs vary significantly as you move between neighborhoods and/or share with roommates.

Comments

(20)
pahlskr4 on 3/19/09 at 3:20am

This top 10 list is extremely helpful and interesting to a soon-to-be graduate like myself! I referred this top 10 list on my own blog, aftergradavenues.com.

jasonah on 3/27/09 at 5:38pm

Considering a move to Chicago in the near future. So glad to see it's #1!

ryan on 4/29/09 at 3:49pm

This entire list is entirely bogus. NYC is number 2? Are you kidding me? Fine, NYC has alot of fun stuff going on but were not talking about fun places to take a quick weekend. How about a place where 90% of the grads that move their have to move back out within a year!? I would not take this list as anything but a fun little description of a few cities. I live in LA and can say that only 15% of my city thinks it is in 'entourage', get a clue before you start judging cities based on average rent and 'closing time' (which is 4am in LA btw)

Anonymous on 7/8/09 at 11:38pm

Houston is a great city to live in, but be careful of some of the neighborhoods. After Katrina, the murder rate has gone through the roof. Also if your gay, your only safe in, like, a handful of neighborhoods.

jessicalwh on 8/13/09 at 7:26pm

Do not move to CA unless you are moving here for a job that you have already been offered! I know a lot of people that have moved out here excited to start their career, just to find that the job market sucks and they can't get a job. You would be much better off on the east coast.

ebost on 9/9/09 at 9:01pm

This list was helpful, but as a recent grad (and life-long resident) of Boston, I was disappointed in how one-sided the description of Beantown was. It seemed like whoever wrote it took a very cliche snapshot of "bro" culture (frats, Sox, beer) instead of actually realizing the unique diversity (one of the largest percentages of international residents), enormous push for arts and alternative culture (MFA, ICA, MassArt), and a pretty serious knack for fashion. C'mon guys! Let's wake up and smell the cliches and try to steer away from them.

Jeff on 4/30/10 at 6:17pm

I just looked through the blog rankings, and I have to say, they are pretty worthless. Seems like something a couple nitwits whipped together over a weekend, without any real analysis. Their descriptions of the cities are so one-dimensional they are practically worthless.

At first I thought Boston may be ranked only #5 because rents are so high, but NY #2?? NY is a great city, but for recent college grads, it's not so great.

And the blog makes Boston sound like the entire city consists of frat guys watching Red Sox games. Are you kidding me???? North End is worlds apart from Back Bay, which is distinctly different than Southie, which couldn't be more different than the South End, which has a very different population than Beacon Hill. And NOT ONE of those neighborhoods is populated by drunken frat guys types. If the blog were only rating the neighborhoods of rating Allston or Brighton, sure maybe. But you're hard pressed to find much of that outside of those 2 neighborhoods (and if you were just rating those 2 neighborhoods, then the rent drops to about $800 for a 1 BR).

The T stops running too early, but aside form that, it really is a perfect city for young adults (recently ranked #1 for dating scene for young adults). There's the club scene, the preppie scene, the monied crowd scene, the sports-guy scene. It's about as diverse as a city gets.

Knock it for high rent, sure. But the reason rents are so high is because demand is so high. Young adults flock to the city. Let's get some better analysis here, guys.

Jeff on 4/30/10 at 6:19pm

BTW, as someone who lived in Boston, NY, and L.A. in my 20's, and traveled frequently to Chicago, Atlanta, and D.C. for work, I'd rank them as follows (for recent college grads):

1. Boston
2. D.C.
3. Chicago
4. L.A.
5. Atlanta
6. NY

Dylan on 4/30/10 at 6:40pm

Boston is exactly as you describe it. This place sucks.

Insane Monkeypants on 4/30/10 at 8:17pm

Boston is just like Scranton, with clams!

the onionhuff on 6/3/10 at 7:59pm

Atlanta is a fecund garden of kewlness! It's like a breeding ground for an indie-hound like meh! I saw a Throbbing Gristle concert back in the early eighties. I saw R.E.M. when they were just a faint "murmur." My girl Emma gave Robert Pollard a handj0b to get backstage passes to a G.B.V. concert. The place is still kicking too! I bought a thrift store t-shirt for 30 bucks in Little Five Points. I LOVE THIS TOWN BABY!

Patrick DiLollo on 6/23/10 at 2:21am

I was born and bred in NY so I may be biased and would have to say NYC is the greatest city in the world! If you just graduated college and are exploring a move, check out www.postgradapartments.com. We are currently in NYC, Boston and Chicago and plan to be in ten more cities by December of this year!

Ashley on 9/9/10 at 4:46pm

Ummmm...Chicago summer avg is definitely higher than that (try about 88-95F) and the winters are colder (10-20F)

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