Graduation season upon us, and employers planning to hire 7.2% more graduates from the Class of 2021 than they did from the Class of 2020, that is according to a new report on 2021’s Best & Worst Places to Start a Career.
The report intended to help recent graduates launch their careers in the right place, conducted by
Wallethub.com, compared more than 180 U.S. cities based on 28 key indicators of career-friendliness.
The data set ranges from the availability of entry-level jobs to monthly average starting salary to housing affordability.
| Best Places to Start a Career | Worst Places to Start a Career |
| 1. Salt Lake City, UT | 173. Santa Clarita, CA |
| 2. Orlando, FL | 174. Philadelphia, PA |
| 3. Atlanta, GA | 175. North Las Vegas, NV |
| 4. Austin, TX | 176. Columbus, GA |
| 5. Columbia, SC | 177. Pembroke Pines, FL |
| 6. Charleston, SC | 178. Detroit, MI |
| 7. Seattle, WA | 179. Bridgeport, CT |
| 8. Overland Park, KS | 180. New York, NY |
| 9. Durham, NC | 181. Hialeah, FL |
| 10. Scottsdale, AZ | 182. Newark, NJ |
Best vs. Worst
- Tacoma, Washington, has the highest monthly average starting salary (adjusted for cost of living), $4,596, which is 3.1 times higher than in Honolulu and Pearl City, Hawaii, the cities with the lowest at $1,478.
- Columbia, Maryland, has the highest median annual household income (adjusted for cost of living), $98,861, which is 3.4 times higher than in Newark, New Jersey, the city with the lowest at $28,757.
- Oxnard, California, has the highest workforce diversity, which is 2.3 times higher than in New Haven, Connecticut, the city with the lowest.
- South Burlington, Vermont, has the lowest unemployment rate, 2.40 percent, which is 5.5 times lower than in Newark, New Jersey, the city with the highest at 13.30 percent.