Best cities for college graduates

[steel03]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Here's a better list in my opinion...

1. Washington DC (5.7%)
2. Boston (5.8%)
3. Minneapolis/St Paul (5.8%)
4. Austin (6.4%)
5. Columbus (6.4%)
6. Oklahoma City (5.0%)
7. Omaha (4.4%)
8. Salt Lake City (6.0%)
9. Des Moines (5.3%)
10. Richmond (6.6%)

(metro areas with smaller job markets received lower relevance versus larger metros with much larger job market)

This is a better list. Maybe would replace Richmond with Madison, WI (4.8% and pretty similar to MSP, Omaha, Des Moines, etc.), even though it's decidedly a college town, so maybe a little less attractive to recent college grads.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by steel03

This is a better list. Maybe would replace Richmond with Madison, WI (4.8% and pretty similar to MSP, Omaha, Des Moines, etc.), even though it's decidedly a college town, so maybe a little less attractive to recent college grads.

Actually you might want to keep Richmond. It really is becoming a major economic center, as evidenced by Amtrak's service extension of the well-traveled Northeast Corridor service (Boston to Washington) south to include Richmond.

http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/T...d-Economy.html

[ja1myn]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Omaha is sitting at 4% unemployment which is somewhat understandable despite it's population and size of job market. Baltimore is near 8% with many other similar-sized cities so that's a bit unclear.

That's what I figured, just wanted a confirmation. This leads me to my next question. I get that the amount of jobs is definitely important, but does Omaha have cultural diversity and all the other "big city" opportunities that cities like NYC have to offer? IMO, a good city for a college grad is more than just finding a job. And even though the unemployment rate may be very low, the poverty rate could still be very high (although I haven't looked into it for Omaha).

[iamjacobm]

Originally Posted by ja1myn

That's what I figured, just wanted a confirmation. This leads me to my next question. I get that the amount of jobs is definitely important, but does Omaha have cultural diversity and all the other "big city" opportunities that cities like NYC have to offer? IMO, a good city for a college grad is more than just finding a job. And even though the unemployment rate may be very low, the poverty rate could still be very high (although I haven't looked into it for Omaha).

It obviously doesn't match up with cities like NYC or even KC for that matter. Where Omaha fits on the list is that you can live for really cheep and still have a good number of things to do. Omaha isn't exactly sleepy, there is live music all the time(anything from small club/bar shows to 18K seat arena shows), pretty good local theater and touring acts, art scene that is lively enough that there is something new to see all the time. No major professional sports, but well supported college sports. There are improving urban areas and nice suburban areas for whatever type of environment you like.

Again it isn't on par with much of those things in terms of other cities on the list, excluding Colorado Springs. I think the benefit is you can do pretty much anything you want in a city that has a lot going on without breaking the bank.

[ja1myn]

Originally Posted by iamjacobm

It obviously doesn't match up with cities like NYC or even KC for that matter. Where Omaha fits on the list is that you can live for really cheep and still have a good number of things to do. Omaha isn't exactly sleepy, there is live music all the time(anything from small club/bar shows to 18K seat arena shows), pretty good local theater and touring acts, art scene that is lively enough that there is something new to see all the time. No major professional sports, but well supported college sports. There are improving urban areas and nice suburban areas for whatever type of environment you like.

Again it isn't on par with much of those things in terms of other cities on the list, excluding Colorado Springs. I think the benefit is you can do pretty much anything you want in a city that has a lot going on without breaking the bank.

Oh, I guess I didn't realize that there was that much to do in Omaha. Thank you for explaining.

[Thresh]

New York.