"A string of cities across America’s Sunbelt are emerging as graduate-hiring hot spots in an otherwise challenging job market for young professionals, an exclusive analysis shows," said The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. College graduate jobs can be hard to find at the moment, so knowing where to look can help both those with recent degrees and those leaving school this year.
The Journal was reporting on a recent study by ADP, which is a leader in payroll and associated services and a widely respected source of employment intelligence.
ADP used its own anonymized data to identify hiring rates and salaries in large metro areas, and then overlaid government figures to determine each metro's cost of living (affordability). Those are the three criteria used to rank metros.
Where the Most Desirable Graduate Jobs Are
Six of the top 10 metros for graduate jobs are in the South. Twenty-somethings with college degrees are most likely to find appropriate work in:
- Birmingham, Ala. — Scores very highly across all three criteria: hiring rates, salaries, and affordability
- Tampa, Fla. — Top for hiring, but mid-range for salaries and affordability
- San Jose, Calif. — Top for salaries and fairly high for hiring, but bad for affordability
- Columbus, Ohio — Mid-range for salaries, good for affordability, and great for hiring
- Raleigh, NC — Good for salaries and hiring, but mid-range for affordability
Those five are ranked in order by ADP. Other metros that are good for graduate jobs include:
- Charlotte, N.C. and Baltimore in the South Atlantic region
- Tulsa, Okla. and Austin, Texas, in the West South Central region
- Nashville, Tenn., in the East South Central region
- San Francisco and Fresno, Calif., in the Pacific region
- Denver in the Mountain region
- New York City in the Middle Atlantic region
Those bullet points are grouped by region and are not ranked according to ADP's three criteria. They all score highly: between the 75th and 100th percentile for graduate jobs, according to ADP's criteria.
Tech Still Strong — In Places
"With layoffs sweeping the technology sector and artificial intelligence reshaping hiring, one might expect tech hubs to have a weak showing in our graduate ranking," said the ADP report.
However, it continued: "That wasn’t the case. San Jose climbed to third, and San Francisco rose four places to seventh, both buoyed by solid hiring."
Still, the tech hiring scene varies widely from metro to metro. Seattle came in 38th on ADP's list this year, while some second-tier tech hubs, notably Portland and San Diego, had very low hiring rates.
Hiring slowed in Austin, Texas, too. It held up in Miami, but the city was let down by its stagnant salaries and poor affordability.
Housing Markets in Hiring Hot Spots
For aspiring homeowners, moving to a place like Birmingham, Ala., with plentiful jobs, high salaries and a low cost of living, can be a godsend. It's often relatively quick and easy to save for a down payment and to buy a good home.
However, a high hiring rate that attracts many newcomers will soon have an effect on the property market. The extra demand for housing should push up rents (slowing the accumulation of savings) and home prices for buyers.
So, while it's generally a good idea for recent and upcoming college graduates to chase jobs in thriving metros, it's better if they're agile. By moving at the crest of a city's relocation wave, they stand the best chance of taking advantage of pre-boom rental and home-sales markets.
