As graduation season approaches, a new study offers some intimidating statistics on kickstarting a career in NYC.
Wallethub examined over 180 U.S. cities to aid college graduates in their search for where best to begin their careers. Luckily, employers are projected to hire 7.3% more graduates from the Class of 2025 than they did the year prior. Unfortunately, NYC landed among the worst U.S. cities to enter the job market in.
Wallethub used 25 key metrics, looking at factors such as the availability of entry-level jobs, housing affordability and average monthly starting salary. These metrics were scored on a 100-point scale that was eventually used to determine a city’s weighted average.
Overall, NYC landed as the fourth worst city to start a career in. Pearl City, Hawaii was found to be the absolute worst, followed by Bridgeport, Connecticut and Oxnard, California.
Inversely, those looking to give themselves the best chances of success can look into finding jobs in Atlanta, Georgia (the top ranked city to start a career in), then Orlando, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Austin, Texas and Miami, Florida.
Atlanta boasts an 8.2% annual growth rate in the median household income, that’s already at $85,400. The study found Atlanta to have an abundant supply of entry-level jobs and open positions at highly rated companies on Glassdoor. For context, Atlanta, Georgia received the highest total score, 69.33, of the average weighted metrics. Meanwhile, NYC scored a total of 34.13.
Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst, said:
Transitioning out of school and into the workforce can be a difficult and stressful process, but certain cities make things a lot easier than others. The best cities for starting a career not only have a lot of job opportunities but also provide substantial income growth potential and satisfying work conditions. It’s also important to consider factors such as how fun a city is to live in or how good of a place it is for raising a family, to ensure life satisfaction outside of your career.