Best Cities for Young Professionals

Salt Lake City one of the Top Cities for Young Professionals to Call Home, How you

start your career is an important determinant for future financial success. Young professionals who are able to find a high-paying career earlier are able to build more savings, get promoted earlier and have more long-term, financial flexibility.

Where you start is also important.Some cities have affordable housing that allows young professionals to invest in the housing market or lets them rent while investing their savings with a financial advisor. Other cities offer a wide range of job opportunities, meaning young adults are not stuck in dead-end jobs they don’t enjoy.

Below we look at these and other factors to determine the best cities for young adults.In total, we looked at nine metrics: percent of residents between the ages of 25 and 34, the unemployment rate for young adults, the labor force participation rate for young adults, median rent, entertainment establishment rate, job diversity, median earnings, earnings change over time and median housing costs as a percent of median earnings.

Data and Methodology

In order to find the best cities for young professionals, we looked at data on 150 of the largest cities in the U.S. We specifically looked at data for the following nine metrics:

• Percent of population between ages 25 and 34. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2016 1-Year American Community Survey.
• Unemployment rate for young professionals. This is the unemployment rate for residents ages 25-34. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2016 1-Year American Community Survey.
• Labor force participation rate for young professionals. This is the labor force participation rate for residents ages 25-34. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2016 1-Year American Community Survey.
• Median gross rent. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2016 1-Year American Community Survey.
• Entertainment establishment density. This is the percent of all establishments in the area dedicated to arts, entertainment or recreation. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2016 County Business Patterns Survey.
• Job diversity. This measures the variety of industries available in a city. We used the Shannon index to calculate this figure. A higher number indicates a more diverse job market. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2016 1-Year American Community Survey.
• Median earnings. This is the median earnings for full-time workers. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2016 1-Year American Community Survey.
• Five-year change in median earnings. This is the percent change in median earnings for full-time workers from 2012 to 2016. Data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2016 and 2012 1-Year American Community Surveys.
• Median rent as a percent of full-time workers’ earnings. Data on median rents and earnings comes from the Census Bureau’s 2016 1-Year American Community Survey.

First, we ranked each city in each metric. Next we found each city’s average ranking across all of the metrics, giving each metric equal weighting. We used this average ranking to create our final score. The city with the best average ranking received a score of 100. The city with the lowest average ranking received a score of 0.

Getting ready to Sell or Buy doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking, but it’s one where details really matter. When you’re working with real estate professional Carriene Porter of Precision Realty & Associates, you’re guaranteed to get the expertise and advice you need to Sell or Buy your home. 

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