It is hard to believe that it’s May already! It is the season when colleges and universities across the country are gearing up for graduation ceremonies, while students cram for the last exams of their undergraduate careers. It is a time of achievement, opportunity, and perhaps, uncertainty. Graduates will find themselves faced with several decisions regarding occupations, housing, and further education – not to mention the most important decision of all: where to explore these options.
To ease some of this stress, CareerBuilder teamed up with Apartments.com to assemble a list of the top 10 best cities for college graduates. This list was compiled based on job availability, the average rental rate of a one-bedroom apartment, and the population of individuals between the ages of 20 and 24. The winning cities were:
- Philadelphia
- Boston
- New York City
- Phoenix
- Chicago
- Dallas-Fort Worth
- Los Angeles
- Houston
- Detroit
- Atlanta
While these cities are flourishing with fellow young adults and numerous entry-level positions, monthly rental rates for apartments vary considerably for each location. Most of the cities on the list offer one-bedroom apartments for rates in the $600 to $900 range, but areas such as Boston, New York, Chicago, and L.A. charge a base rate of about $1,000 per month. Housing affordability may be the deciding factor when choosing to make the move to a new city.
Where do you think your city would place on this list? It will interesting to see in the next decade which cities remain in the top ten and which cities will emerge as the new attractors of eager college graduates.
Source: Cbcampus. (April 2008). Best cities to live for college graduates. Retrieved April 29, 2008 from http://www.careerbuildercollege.com