A New Report Ranks The DC Area Tops For Recent Grads

• April 14th

by UrbanTurf Staff

✉️ Want to forward this article? Click here.

In a new joint analysis by Redfin and Glassdoor, Washington, DC ranked as the best big city in the country for recent college graduates, edging out the likes of Boston, Dallas, and Chicago. The report ranked DC at the top of the list thanks to strong early-career salaries, abundant entry-level job opportunities, and solid work-life balance scores — a combination that, apparently, is harder to find elsewhere than you might think.

The analysis found that DC posted 19 job openings per 100 workers, the highest rate of any large US city in the analysis. Tech is the top sector for early-career workers, but the market extends well beyond it — government agencies, think tanks, defense contractors, consultants, and law firms all contribute to a deep pool of entry-level opportunities. The average annual early-career salary clocked in at $79,857, and while that doesn't go as far here as it might in, say, St. Louis, it compares favorably to most other major coastal metros. A typical starter home in DC runs about $320,000, and the analysis estimates it would take just over four years to save for a down payment, more achievable than in Boston or San Diego, where the same math stretches to nearly seven years or more.

The analysis evaluated cities across 13 indicators covering housing affordability, career opportunity, and urban quality of life — and DC's combination of decent (if not cheap) housing, a dense job market, and strong walkability and transit scores pushed it to the top of the large-city pile.

The broader report, which ranked big, mid-sized, and small cities separately, found that New Orleans led among mid-sized cities, largely on the strength of affordable starter homes and early-career wages that are growing faster than rents, while Springfield, Illinois topped the small-city category with high starting salaries, strong job-growth potential, and transit accessibility.

Photo by Ted Eytan. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a_new_report_ranks_the_dc_area_tops_for_recent_grads/24521.