4th year or almost there? Here are the Best Places to Live and Work Postgrad
Let’s be honest here.
Thinking about the future can be scary, especially when it means leaving your comfortable college town and getting a job in the real world. I have one more year of college left before I move to a big city and start working a big girl job. Even scarier is the fact that I could end up living anywhere and doing anything. Since I’ve been stressing quite a bit about my future lately, I decided to compile a list of the best cities to live in postgrad, and I wanted to share them with you here.
San Jose, CA
Located in California’s Bay Area, San Jose is home to the tech hub known as Silicon Valley. According to Business Insider, the metro area of San Jose has the highest share of young adults with bachelor’s degrees and the second-highest median earnings for young adults in the U.S. This does however come at the price of having the highest cost of living of any metro area in the country. Aside from the variety of job opportunities, the weather in San Jose is close to flawless. The coldest month is January with a temperature of 72°F (coldest!) and the sun is shining the majority of the year.
Denver, CO
Denver is becoming an increasingly popular destination for millennials and others to live and work. The city offers more affordable housing compared to California and many places on the East Coast. Businesses in Denver encourage a good work/life balance in order to ensure employees are happy and companies are strong and doing well in their economy. It is not uncommon to have unique benefits such as unlimited vacation, flexible schedules, and the ability to work from home to allow employees to enjoy the beautiful mountains surrounding the city.
Raleigh, NC
Raleigh is home to NC State and the capital of North Carolina. The Research Triangle Park (RTP) is made up of numerous tech companies and enterprises and has been essential to making Raleigh one of the top cities for jobs. If you’re looking for somewhere that celebrates all four seasons, Raleigh is the place to be and is only a couple hours away from beaches and mountains. This North Carolina city also offers slightly more affordable housing with a relative cost of living below the national average.
Burlington, VT
Burlington is a city on the shore of Lake Champlain, just south of the Canadian border. There’s a great waterfront area with an assortment of restaurants, pubs, shops, and live music downtown. It’s home to the University of Vermont and has a large population of young adults. The cost of living is not outrageous and the young adult unemployment rate is low. Burlington is also the birthplace of Ben & Jerry’s!
All of these cities are very up and coming and are great places for recent graduates to live and work. Their metro areas are highly populated with young adults with bachelor’s degrees and offer a variety of job openings with companies eager to hire motivated postgrads. And maybe I’ll see you there?
Sources:
- https://www.businessinsider.com/best-cities-for-recent-college-graduates-2019-5#2-ithaca-ny-is-home-to-cornell-university-the-metro-area-had-a-large-young-adult-population-and-a-high-share-of-young-adults-with-bachelors-degrees-19
- https://californiamoversusa.com/resources/moving-to-san-jose-california/
- https://www.bwbacon.com/blog/denver-is-the-best-city-for-work-life-balance/
