At Aurora University, career readiness is a key pillar of the academic experience. It’s vital for students preparing to navigate life after graduation. Choosing the right city can play a powerful role in that journey, offering opportunities for professional growth, financial stability, and long-term success.
In this university-led analysis, Aurora University evaluated the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas to determine which ones best support early career development. Each city was scored based on job availability, average starting salaries, rent-to-income ratios, and access to internships, using August 2025 data from Indeed and Zillow.
The findings spotlight where recent graduates are most likely to thrive. These cities combine career opportunities with affordability and access to meaningful work experiences.
Key Takeaways
- Atlanta, Dallas, and Minneapolis top the list of the most career-ready cities for recent college grads.
- Long Beach, New York City, and Houston have the highest volume of entry-level job opportunities.
- San Francisco, Bakersfield, and Seattle boast the highest average starting salaries for new grads.
- Wichita, Oklahoma City, and Louisville offer the most affordable rent-to-income ratios for early-career professionals.
Top Cities Balancing Opportunity and Affordability
For recent graduates, the best cities combine opportunity, competitive pay, and affordability, factors that can set the tone for long-term professional and financial success. Use the interactive chart below to explore and compare how the largest American cities ranked.
Top 5 Most Career-ready Cities for College Grads
The top-performing cities in the 2025 ranking combine strong job availability, competitive salaries, and accessible internships with a manageable cost of living, and they are:
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Dallas, Texas
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Houston, Texas
- Seattle, Washington
Atlanta leads the 2025 ranking as the most career-ready city in the country. With thousands of entry-level openings, a healthy average starting salary, and accessible internships, it offers a strong foundation for young professionals. Dallas ranks second, driven by abundant job listings and a growing economy.
Minneapolis came in third, combining competitive wages with a lower-than-average rent-to-income ratio. Houston is next, in fourth, with its robust job market and diverse career paths. Seattle rounds out the top five with its well-established tech sector poised to benefit from the generative AI boom.
Top 5 Cities With the Most Entry-level Job Opportunities
For graduates aiming to enter the workforce quickly, cities with the largest number of entry-level positions offer immediate opportunities to gain experience and start building a career.
- Long Beach, California, leads with 16,000 openings across a variety of industries.
- New York City follows closely with 15,000 roles, offering great sector diversity.
- Houston and Dallas again place in the top five, with 14,000 openings each, joined by Phoenix, Arizona, which also ranks highly with the same total.
Top 5 Cities With the Highest Average Starting Salaries
High salaries can give new graduates a significant financial head start. San Francisco, California, tops this list with an average starting salary of $84,208. Bakersfield, California, follows at $81,553, and Seattle ranks third at $80,767.
San Jose and Oakland, California, round out the top five, each offering starting pay above $78,000. While these cities often have higher living costs, the elevated salaries can help offset expenses.
Top 5 Cities With the Lowest Rent-to-Income Ratios
While a high salary is important, affordability plays a major role in determining long-term financial stability. Lower rent-to-income ratios allow graduates to retain more of their income for savings, investments, or paying down student loans.
Wichita, Kansas, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Louisville, Kentucky, share the nation’s lowest ratio at 24%. Memphis, Tennessee, and Omaha, Nebraska, follow at 27%, providing cost advantages without sacrificing access to professional opportunities.
Aurora's Online Degrees Set Grads Up For Success.
See which opportunities a degree from Aurora University can help you prepare for across major metro areas.
Explore DegreesFinal Thoughts
The move from college to career is about getting hired, but it is also crucial to find a place where you can grow, thrive, and enjoy life outside of work. Some cities shine for their starting salaries, others for affordable living, and many for the sheer number of opportunities they offer new graduates.
The “best” city will look different for everyone, but knowing how each one stacks up can make that decision clearer. Choose the spot that fits your goals and lifestyle, and you will give yourself a strong start in both your career and your life after college.
Methodology
To identify the most career-ready cities in the U.S. for recent college graduates, we developed a meta-ranking of the 50 most populous U.S. cities, based on 2024 population estimates. These major metros represent the largest and most competitive job markets for new professionals launching their post-college careers.
Each city was scored on a weighted combination of four key metrics, selected to reflect financial opportunity, affordability, and access to early-career pathways. Data was collected in August 2025, using publicly available sources and a custom Indeed scrape. The metrics and weights are as follows:
- Total job listings (25%): Sourced from Indeed, this metric reflects the number of full-time, entry-level job postings available in each metro area. A total of over 350,000 listings were collected and analyzed across all 50 cities. Figures are subject to change as job postings are updated on Indeed.
- Average starting salary (35%): Also derived from Indeed, this figure represents the average base salary associated with entry-level roles in each city. Salaries from hourly and weekly postings were annualized to create a consistent metric. Salaries from hourly postings were annualized using 2,080 hours per year (40 hours per week × 52 weeks), and salaries from weekly postings were annualized by multiplying the weekly rate by 52.
- Rent-to-income ratio (30%): To assess affordability, we calculated the rent-to-income ratio by dividing the average annual rent by the average annual starting salary in each city, then multiplying by 100 to express it as a percentage.
- Rent data was sourced from Zillow’s 2025 ZORI “All Homes Plus Multifamily”
- Salary data came from our Indeed entry-level job scrape.
- This ratio reflects how much of a new grad’s income would typically go toward rent. Lower percentages indicate more affordable housing markets relative to local wages.
- Internship opportunities (10%): Internship listings were also collected from Indeed to reflect the availability of early-career experience in each city. While internships often precede full-time work, cities with a high volume of postings typically offer stronger professional pipelines and employer interest in junior talent.
All four metrics were normalized using min-max scaling (0 to 100). Since a lower rent-to-income ratio is preferable, those values were inverted during scaling to reward affordability. Each metric was then weighted according to its assigned importance and summed to produce a final score out of 100. Cities were ranked based on descending final scores.
About Aurora University
Aurora University offers a comprehensive array of online degree programs designed to support adult learners at every stage of their academic and professional journeys. Undergraduate options include the following:
- Business Administration (BS)
- Business Management (BA)
- Criminal Justice (BA)
- General Studies (BA)
- Healthcare Administration (BS)
- Psychology (BA)
- Social Work (BSW)
At the graduate level, AU offers multiple fully online options, such as:
- Master of Business Administration (MBA)
- Master of Public Administration (MPA)
- Master of Social Work (MSW), with traditional and advanced standing tracks
- Master of Science in Exercise Science (MS)
Each program is tailored to fit around work and personal commitments and is taught by practitioner-based faculty who bring real-world expertise to the virtual classroom. Aurora University delivers a personalized, student-first experience that reflects its supportive small-college environment.
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