The Best Cities for Starting a Career
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This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news in Washington. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise.
Here's your money briefing for Wednesday, July 31st. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. Last week we told you about how, despite an overall strong U.S. labor market, many college graduates in their early 20s are having trouble finding a job. Part of the issue might be where they're looking. It turns out the best opportunities for young professionals might be in the South.
They tend to have a higher concentration of technology, health and financial firms, biohealth and science, for instance, as well as several universities. And those universities are serving as pipelines for all those firms with locations there.
In a moment, Wall Street Journal reporter Ray Smith will join us and we'll go through the list of cities where 20-somethings have a better chance of landing a job and where they don't. That's after the break.
This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news in Washington. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise.
It's been a frustrating job search for many college grads in their early 20s. Wall Street Journal reporter Ray Smith found several cities that could be just the place for them to launch their career. He joins me now. Ray, you were with us last week discussing the job scene. Refresh us as to why white-collar college graduates are having such a hard time in the current labor market.
Fewer white collar workers are leaving jobs than there were a year ago or two years ago. So there are fewer openings.
Why are recent college graduates struggling in today’s job market?
And also generative AI can handle a lot of the tasks entry level workers would perform. So that means less need for college graduates to fill some of those entry level roles.
In your story, you track the top metro areas in the U.S. where companies are hiring grads, according to ADP. All the cities are in the Mid-Atlantic or the South. What do they have in common?
They tend to have a higher concentration of technology, health and financial firms, biohealth and science, for instance, as well as several universities. And those universities are serving as pipelines for all those firms with locations there. What they also have in common is affordability, lower cost of living relative to other parts of the country.
Raleigh, North Carolina topped the list. Why is it number one?
Raleigh had the best combination of brisk hiring, good salaries, and affordability. Its nickname is the Research Triangle, and that's because there are a lot of research universities there. Duke University is also there. It's one of the prestigious research institutions in the area that companies are saying they're expanding their recruiting efforts from. Several companies, including Gilead Sciences and Cisco, MetLife, told us they've recently expanded their recruiting from schools there and in the state.
The rest of the top five are Charlotte, Atlanta, Austin, and Baltimore. Why are the top markets for young people in the South?
The South has long had a lower cost of living. That's not so new that they've had a lower cost of living than the coast. The same with Baltimore when compared with D.C. or New York City. It's the lower cost of living, but also the growth of a range of businesses there. A lot more businesses have opened sites and locations in those areas. And also some people point out there's just a better quality of life in the South, whether there's just more nature, nicer weather. The people are friendlier, some people have told us. There's just more breathing room and walkability and affordability.
Austin garnered a lot of attention when it experienced a job and housing boom during the pandemic. Does the fact that the growth there appears to have crested pose a challenge?
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