2015’s Best & Worst Cities to Start a Career

From WalletHub May 11, 2015

With graduation ceremonies commencing and more employers planning to hire college grads in 2015, the leading personal finance social network WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2015’s Best & Worst Cities to Start a Career.

In order to help job market entrants launch their careers in the right place, WalletHub analyzed the 150 largest U.S. cities to determine the relative strength of their job markets as well as the attractiveness of their social scenes and other factors that are important to job market entrants. We did so using 19 key metrics such as workforce diversity, median annual income and number of leisure establishments.

Honolulu Ranks 101st: 95th for 'Professional Opportunities' and 107th for 'Quality of Life'

Key Stats

• The monthly median starting salary, adjusted for cost of living is three times higher in Houston than in Honolulu.
• The median annual income, adjusted for cost of living is three times higher in Plano, Texas, than in Newark, N.J.
• The workforce diversity is two times higher in Oxnard, Calif, than in Durham, N.C.
• The unemployment rate is five times higher in Detroit than in Lincoln, Neb.
• The number of arts, leisure and recreation establishments per 100,000 inhabitants is seven times higher in Los Angeles than in Laredo, Texas.
• The percentage of the population aged 25 to 34 is two times higher in Jersey City, N.J., than in Cape Coral, Fla.
• The percentage of the population with a bachelor’s degree or higher is six times higher in Irvine, Calif., than in Santa Ana, Calif.