--- title: 10 Best Cities to Start a New Career description: New graduates with a choice may want to start their career in one of these fun and affordable cities. canonical: https://time.com/70569/new-career-cities/ author: Dan Kadlec article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-22T10:02:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:24:57.532Z article:section: World og:title: 10 Best Cities to Start a New Career og:description: New graduates with a choice may want to start their career in one of these fun and affordable cities. og:url: https://time.com/70569/new-career-cities/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16af3c80243de61e/69868bcbe8524b51a660281f/166996277.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 166996277 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 10 Best Cities to Start a New Career twitter:description: New graduates with a choice may want to start their career in one of these fun and affordable cities. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16af3c80243de61e/69868bcbe8524b51a660281f/166996277.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Top 10 Best Cities to Start a New Career by [Dan Kadlec](/author/dan-kadlec/) ## Dan Kadlec Apr 22, 2014 10:02 AM CUT  Autumn Sunset Over the Downtown Denver Skyline Autumn Sunset Over the Downtown Denver SkylinePhotography by Bridget Calip—Getty Images/Flickr RF by [Dan Kadlec](/author/dan-kadlec/) ## Dan Kadlec Apr 22, 2014 10:02 AM CUT As a new set of college graduates prepares to enter the workforce, one thing on their mind will be finding a place to call home. Boomeranging back to Mom and Dad’s house may work for a while. But your career could take you elsewhere. Besides, it’s a lot more fun on your own. One strategy is to simply move wherever you find work. With jobs still relatively [scarce](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304626304579510070088630140?mg=reno64-wsj "undefined") five years into the recovery, many new grads will go that route, no questions asked. But for those who want to be a little more thoughtful about where they set up their new life, [Apartments.com](http://www.apartments.com/ "undefined") has complied a list of the best cities for new and recent graduates. The list takes into account affordability; it favors cities where the average rent for a one-bedroom unit is less than 25% of gross median income. Career opportunity is a big consideration; no cities with unemployment above 7% make the cut. The list also takes demographics into account; weight is given to cities with more people aged 25-29\. If you are setting up house for the first time, and have choices, this list may be a decent place to start: * **Denver** Average single-bedroom apartment rent is on the high side: $1,248\. But the unemployment rate is just 4.3%, compared to 6.7% nationally, and there is a thriving singles culture with one in eight residents aged 25 to 29. * **Charlotte** Average rent (one bedroom, throughout the list): $953\. Young people enjoy the southern culture amid a major urban area and high density (11.1%) of those aged 25 to 29. * **Phoenix** Average rent is just $842\. Yet residents have the highest median household income of all cities on the list: $81,349. * **Austin, Texas** Average rent: $1,188\. There’s no shortage of entertainment in “The Live Music Capital of the World” and with unemployment at just 3.3%, there’s also no shortage of jobs. * **Columbus, Ohio** Average rent: $732\. This is a bustling Midwest college town that scores big on the singles scene with high percentages of male-only (7%) and female-only (14.9%) households. * **Cincinnati** Average rent is extraordinarily low for a major city with many large employers including Kroger and Procter and Gamble: $707. * **Fort Worth, Texas** Average rent: $864\. The cost of living is low and so is the unemployment rate at just 4.5%. * **Indianapolis** Another large city with low average rent: $946 and high density (11.1%) of those aged 25 to 29. * **Las Vegas** The gaming culture here is not for everyone but with the city’s housing market still recovering from the bust average rents are just $897\. It might be worth a gamble. * **Dallas** Average rent: $1,178\. This city has lots of sun, large employers including AT&T and Exxon Mobil, and an impressive unemployment rate of just 4.3%. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/70569/new-career-cities/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/70569/new-career-cities/"},"headline":"Top 10 Best Cities to Start a New Career","datePublished":"2014-04-22T10:02:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:24:57.532Z","description":"New graduates with a choice may want to start their career in one of these fun and affordable cities.","url":"https://time.com/70569/new-career-cities/","keywords":["Career Strategies","Jobs","Employment","Work"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16af3c80243de61e/69868bcbe8524b51a660281f/166996277.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kadlec","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kadlec/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16af3c80243de61e/69868bcbe8524b51a660281f/166996277.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"166996277","caption":"166996277","creditText":"Photography by Bridget Calip—Getty Images/Flickr RF","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/career-strategies/","name":"Career Strategies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/70569/new-career-cities/","name":"Top 10 Best Cities to Start a New Career"}}]}] ```