Using data complied for multiple sources, we’ve created this list of the 10 best cities for recent college grads.

Unless you’re chasing a specific job after college graduation, you might be free to live just about anywhere. That’s why we pulled together this list of the 10 best U.S. cities for recent college graduates.

On this list, you’ll find cities that are growing and vibrant, and that have a variety of attractions for twenty-somethings. First, we’ll break down how we ranked cities. Then, we’ll give you the top 10 cities you may want to check out when you graduate this spring.

How We Ranked the Cities

To rank the top cities, we used a decision matrix that gave different weight to different ranking factors. Here are the basics of how we did it.

Population

First of all, we started off with a list of midsize to large U.S. cities. The thought here is that cities with a bigger population typically offer more variety, as well as more job opportunities. We used this list, based on the most recent U.S. census data, to start with a list of cities with populations of at least 400,000.

Note that population wasn’t a ranking factor. It was just our starting point for deciding which cities to research.

Income versus Cost of Living

In a similar city-ranking article, we looked exclusively at cost of living. But for new grads, that’s not a holistic enough measure. Some of the more expensive cities on our list also come with higher-than-average salaries.

So we looked at the average cost of living rating divided by the per capita income. This let us rank the cities based on their relative costs of living.

Keep in mind that this is not a strictly scientific option. Depending on your industry, you could make much more per year than your city’s per capita income. So you may be able to easily afford living in a more expensive city. But this gave us a good idea of the cities that are generally more affordable based on average incomes in the area.

Employment Growth and Unemployment

We ranked these two factors separately, giving employment growth greater weight than actual unemployment. The thought is that if new industries are growing in a city, recent graduates may be able to find jobs, even if overall unemployment is somewhat high. With that said, moving into a city with an exceptionally high rate of unemployment may not be the best idea. So we gave weight to both factors.

We pulled both numbers from this chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For unemployment rate, we looked at the most recent option, which was December 2017 at the time of this writing. For employment growth, we looked at the difference in the unemployment rate from December 2016 to December 2017.

Ease of Transport

Many college graduates value the option to get around town without a personal vehicle. So we looked at WalkScore’s ratings for walkability, bikeability, and public transit. This was simply a combined score made up of all three ratings for a city.

If you’re interested in a particular type of transport, such as public buses or biking to work, we suggest checking out WalkScore. And keep in mind that even if the city as a whole has a relatively low rating, your address can vastly impact your ability to get around car-free.

My native Indianapolis doesn’t have a great score in this category, comparatively. But I am able to either bus or bike to work most days because of where in the city I live and work.

Rent Costs

We looked at this January 2018 Apartment List data on average rental costs of one-bedroom apartments. Moving into a larger apartment with roommates will nearly always save you money. But we figured one bedrooms would be a better way to understand how much single people in a given city might pay to live there.

Restaurants and Nightlife

This is a bit harder to rank, considering you can find good restaurants and bars in just about any city in the U.S. if you know where to look. So which cities should get bonus points for having great restaurants and excellent nightlife? We actually relied on other rankings to give us this information.

We looked at several articles like this one from Zagat. If the cities on our list were mentioned by reputable news sources like these, they got some bonus points in these two categories.

Don’t worry, though. Since this area is so subjective, it had a relatively lower weight in our categorization. But check out our listing below to find cities that scored particularly well in this category.

Public Spaces

When you’re just starting out life with your first job, having free stuff to do might be important. So we bumped up the scores of cities with robust public library and parks systems. We found this information on the cities’ own websites listing their public spaces.

What We Didn’t Rank

This list may seem incomplete to you. What about things like outdoor attractions? Weather? Air travel options? Specific industries?

We didn’t rank these options at all because they are too subjective. Maybe you prefer to tour a beautiful art museum on the weekend. But maybe you’d rather be mountain climbing. Maybe you like to experience all four seasons, or maybe you prefer it to be hot and sunny most of the year. And you might be looking for a city with a fast-growing tech sector. But maybe your degree is in something completely unrelated.

At any rate, we’ll mention notable outdoor attractions, weather conditions, and industries for the cities we rank below. But these weren’t included in our decision on the top 10 cities.

So without further ado, here are Dough Roller’s top 10 best cities for recent college graduates.

The Cities

1. Dallas, Texas

Population: 1,317,929

Cost of Living Score: 97

Per Capita Income: $23,616

December 2017 Unemployment: 3.1%

Walk/Bike/Transit Scores: 46/39/44

Average One-Bedroom Apartment Rent: $880

You may not think of Dallas as a party city, but it ranked well on several lists of cities with the best nightlife. Plus, it’s got literally hundreds of public parks and a large library system. So whether you’re in for a night on the town or a quiet afternoon at the library, Dallas has something to offer. Dallas is also becoming well-known as a food hub, with a variety of interesting restaurants to try.

Dallas’s major industries include technology, financial services, and defense. Forbes rates it the #10 best place for business and career growth, and #15 in job growth. The city’s top attractions include its beautiful arboretum, the George W. Bush Presidential Library, and several museums.

2. Columbus, Ohio

Population: 860,090

Cost of Living Score: 90

Per Capita Income: $23,020

December 2017 Unemployment: 3.7%

Walk/Bike/Transit Scores: 41/31/47

Average One-Bedroom Apartment Rent: $730

Columbus had staying power on our list through all of the financially-related rankings. It’s an affordable place to live, with a low overall cost of living and very low rent. But that’s not all it has going for it. Columbus also has a nice library system and a huge system of city and neighborhood parks.

Columbus’s fastest-growing industries include technology, insurance, and education. Forbes rates it #11 on its list of best cities for business and career growth. The city’s zoo and aquarium are well-known, as is the Franklin Park Conservatory. But you can find any number of interesting local attractions, including some historic locations in Columbus.

3. Detroit, Michigan

Population: 672,795

Cost of Living Score: 81

Per Capita Income: $22,319

December 2017 Unemployment: 4.2%

Walk/Bike/Transit Scores: 55/38/55

Average One-Bedroom Apartment Rent: $680

Even after the auto industry crash of the early 2000’s, Detroit remains known as Motor City. It’s not exactly the first place you might consider when choosing a city to settle in. However, if you’re interested in investing in cheap property in a city that is starting to turn things around, Detroit could be a good option. It boasts incredibly low costs of living to help your paycheck stretch further.

Growing industries, besides traditional auto manufacturing, include technology and bio-science. Detroit is also nearby to many great outdoor adventures on the lakes or even in Ontario, Canada. And you’ll find that the city has a growing restaurant scene, as well as a large network of parks and public libraries.

4. Portland, Oregon

Population: 639,863

Cost of Living Score: 121

Per Capita Income: $31,377

December 2017 Unemployment: 3.6%

Walk/Bike/Transit Scores: 65/51/72

Average One-Bedroom Apartment Rent: $1,120

Sure, the cost of living is high in Portland, but so are the average incomes. If you can land a good job in this city, it’s an excellent place to live. It boasts one of the highest scores for walk/bike/transit in our list. So if you’d like to live life car-free, Portland could be a great option for you.

With growing industries in technology, manufacturing, and recreation, Portland made #1 on the Forbes list of the best places for business and careers. Homes and rent are expensive here, but if you’re an outdoorsy person, Oregon is a fabulous place to live. Its attractions include a variety of parks, as well as proximity to a variety of outdoor attractions, science museums, and more.

5. Louisville, Kentucky

Population: 616,261

Cost of Living Score: 89

Per Capita Income: $21,756

December 2017 Unemployment: 3.2%

Walk/Bike/Transit Scores: 33/28/43

Average One-Bedroom Apartment Rent: $650

If nightlife and fancy restaurants aren’t high on your list of must-haves, Louisville might be the best option for you. With growing industries in health care and tourism and a low cost of living, it’s a good place to settle after graduation.

Of course, Louisville is a big tourist town with well-known attractions like Churchill Downs, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, and Kentucky Kingdom. But you can also just settle into a quiet life enjoying the local libraries and parks, or venturing throughout Kentucky to camp, climb, and explore on the weekends.

6. Baltimore, Maryland

Population: 614,664

Cost of Living Score: 101

Per Capita Income: $29,771

December 2017 Unemployment: 3.9%

Walk/Bike/Transit Scores: 69/58/56

Average One-Bedroom Apartment Rent: $950

Baltimore boasts East Coast living at lower prices. It gives you fairly easy access to other large cities on the East Coast without having to pay New York City rent. Its major growing industries are health care and bio-science.

Baltimore gives you easy access to the sea, and it has plenty of interesting attractions, including the National Aquarium. If you’re a history buff, living in Baltimore gives you endless options for entertainment, too.

7. Houston, Texas

Population: 2,303,482

Cost of Living Score: 91

Per Capita Income: $21,701

December 2017 Unemployment: 4.3%

Walk/Bike/Transit Scores: 49/37/49

Average One-Bedroom Apartment Rent: $840

The largest city on our list by quite a bit, Houston has plenty of variety to offer. It’s well-known for a busy nightlife scene and a variety of interesting restaurants. And it’s a great place to go if you want to work in energy, aerospace and defense, or bio-science.

You’d think Houston would be one of the more expensive cities on our list since it’s so large. But that’s not the case. You can get a one-bedroom apartment for a very low rate here. And it’s full of public attractions like parks but also a variety of paid attractions like the space center, zoo, and aquarium.

8. Austin, Texas

Population: 947,890

Cost of Living Score: 105

Per Capita Income: $24,516

December 2017 Unemployment: 2.7%

Walk/Bike/Transit Scores: 40/34/52

Average One-Bedroom Apartment Rent: $1,120

You’ve probably heard the slogan, “Keep Austin Weird.” It started as a call for Austin residents to support local businesses, and it’s something they still take seriously. With that said, it’s still home to growing industries, including technology, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology. And Forbes ranks it as the #8 best city for businesses and careers and #5 in job growth.

While Austin can be a fun place to live, known for live music, great nightlife, and a bustling restaurant scene, it’s also really expensive. Its average rent is one of the two highest on our list. Still, if you get a job that lets you afford it, Austin is a great place to build a life.

9. Phoenix, Arizona

Population: 1,615,017

Cost of Living Score: 95

Per Capita Income: $21,907

December 2017 Unemployment: 3.9%

Walk/Bike/Transit Scores: 41/32/54

Average One-Bedroom Apartment Rent: $820

If you want to live where things stay hot most of the year, Phoenix might be the city for you. Its cost of living is a bit higher than the national average, but rent isn’t terribly expensive. And it has a growing technology industry that may make finding a job easy. In fact, Forbes ranked it #37 for job growth.

Phoenix isn’t known for its restaurants, in particular, but it does offer plenty of party and nightlife options. Plus, it’s got lots of local parks to explore. And if you’re an outdoors explorer, there’s nothing like the stars in a desert sky at night.

10. Indianapolis, Indiana

Population: 855,164

Cost of Living Score: 84

Per Capita Income: $23,198

December 2017 Unemployment: 2.8%

Walk/Bike/Transit Scores: 30/24/41

Average One-Bedroom Apartment Rent: $690

I may be biased since I live here, but Indianapolis is another great place to call home. With growing industries in health care, pharmaceuticals, insurance, and technology, there are plenty of great jobs to be had. And the cost of living is comparatively low. Forbes placed Indy at #21 on its list of best places for business and careers.

Indianapolis has a restaurant scene that’s becoming nationally known. And it has some great attractions, including state parks, a great library system, and one of the best children’s museums anywhere.

Topics: Money and Life

The post 10 Best Cities for Recent College Grads appeared first on The Dough Roller.

via Finance Xpress