On the thread about the Yelp employee going off on her employer online and getting fired for it, there is talk about how San Francisco is an inhospitable place for many people, especially young recent grads, to live due to the extremely high cost of living.
So, where would you recommend a young person look to start a new career? What area provides an affordable cost of living combined with a decent job market? Where a student with a good work ethic has a chance to land a decent entry level job? Bonus points for having some access to culture and other entertainment that appeals to someone in their 20s. Let’s assume for an individual who is not focused on a Silicon Valley type tech job or a political wonk trying to make a splash in Washington, DC., or other areas gravitated to by jobseekers within a very specific industry. But even those suggestions are okay if it provides an alternative to the obvious. Example: if you want to work in the investment arena, you don’t have to physically work on Wall Street and pay the high cost of NYC living these days as technology has allowed companies to be in other places.
So, any great suggestions? If you were 22, where would you go?
Seattle/Tacoma would probably be my first choice. Lots of young people there. Good job opportunities, and while not cheap…it’s not like CA or DC or NYC or Boston.
Lol, thumper. The SV exodus will soon make our area much less affordable. Two years ago, an academic researcher and a medical student could afford a mortgage on an older home within a reasonable bus commute to UW… Not sure about now.
I have several friends in Des Moines and their young adult children have all found great jobs with great starting salaries for the area. All of them have purchased a home or are in the process of buying a home.
My son, his friends, my friends kids, my nieces/nephews and my cousin’s kids all moved to either Boston, SF, NYC, DC or Seattle after college. Some went already having jobs and some moved and then began looking for jobs. Almost all had financial help from parents if they didn’t have a job and if they did have a job.
“My son, his friends, my friends kids, my nieces/nephews and my cousin’s kids all moved to either Boston, SF, NYC, DC or Seattle after college”
I agree those are the hot spots and where I see a lot of young people I know going. But I’ve always been a bit of a contrarian and it makes me wonder if there are better places for that reason, the road less traveled and all…perhaps some smaller cities that are hidden gems.
Our S is in DC. He has a full time job and a part time hobby, so is able to have a nice lifestyle while saving a lot for retirement. So far, he’s happy there. That is the only place he’s lived since graduating.
One place I would definitely NOT recommend is Hawaii. The wages here are low while cost of living (especially housing) are very high. Many young people need help to be able to ever buy a place here and many live in multi-generational situations because they can’t afford a place of their own.
Only a person from Hawaii would consider DC an affordable place for someone starting out. It sounds like your son is doing well in his career, @HImom. That’s great!
Florida is actually a great state to live in depending on where you are. No income tax, and the government has been trying to attract tech business, though some is already here. Southeastern Florida can be pricey though, yet we have depressed wages (it’s a weird combo).
Well, he isn’t paying 80% of his salary for housing, even for his full time job! He is paying more than he’d like, but is very happy with the condo he rents. If he had a room mate, he’d have even a lower portion of his salary going toward housing, but that would affect his part-time hobby which brings in more money than his job!
I would live where my best job offer is. Or I would live where my partner’s the best job offer is.
I can only tell where I would NOT live even if they pay me 10 times more than any other place. I would never live in NYC, Boston, LA, and many other huge metropolitan places. But as a fresh college grad., I may not know that yet.
At 22, I did take my first real job in SF. Low pay.
The challenge is that the cities with the most real opportunity are also the “A” cities, in terms of cost of living. Boston will have more to grow into than Portland or Providence. LA will have more than Long Beach. Boston may also offer more free or cheap fun, hiking or happy hour, museums, window shopping, street fairs, whatever, versus full-on living as your parents do, after their decades of work experience.
I think since many college students don’t mind having roommates, it can be workable to go to a more expensive city. Lots of them (not our snowflakes, I know, but OTHER PEOPLE’s snowflakes) aren’t worrying about putting away retirement savings yet. It is a few years after graduation when the reality hits – they want their own place, to buy a house, to think about raising and educating kids, to start saving soe money – that is when they start to wish they lived in a lower cost city.
Columbus, Ohio. 15th largest city in the nation. State capitol. Lots of white collar jobs. Great food, art, music scene. GREAT neighborhoods. Excellent suburb school systems. Cost of living very midwest. Winter weather more mild than anything north of it. And whether you’re a child, an adult or elderly, excellent health care options.
Edited to say, not much public transportation but jump in the car and you can be anywhere in the city/suburbs in 20ish minutes (barring traffic!)
I will likely end up in Denver after graduation. Great city, plenty of jobs, interesting culture, and a young population. I’m a huge outdoors enthusiast so access to excellent hiking is a huge draw for me.
I feel like college towns (like Columbus) are challenging because probably a lot of students want to stay there after graduation (that is sure true in Ann Arbor). That makes the job market pretty tough.
It sounds like your son is doing well in his career, 