Phoenix Ranked 4th Best City for New College Graduates, Zillow says

Article originally posted on AZ Central on June 2, 2023

Phoenix was ranked as the fourth-best market for new college graduates, according to a recent Zillow study.

The Valley of the Sun was able to reserve a top spot due to an abundance of job openings, cementing it as a place of opportunity for recent grads, according to Zillow. With a typical salary just north of $62,000 and a hefty price tag for rent, around $1,918, however, is not entirely ideal.

For Zillow, this is remedied by Phoenix’s rather high population of those in their 20s, making the prospect of finding a roommate to split the bill with easier.

What cities were in the top 5 cities for new graduates?

As for the rest of the rankings, Colorado Springs, Colorado, took the top spot boasting relative affordability with a number of career prospects, creating a high quality of life for those seeking new opportunities.

“While the typical graduate will spend about 35% of their income on rent without roommates (which is on the more expensive end of rent burdens), strong job growth and a large population in their twenties makes Colorado Springs the highest ranked market in the country,” the Zillow report states.

Spokane, Washington, came in at No. 2 due to a significantly cheaper price of rent than Seattle, with new grads usually spending around 31% of their income on shelter.

Named top dog in terms of working for U.S. insurance companies, Des Moines, Iowa, took third place with one of the lowest asking rents on the list, $1,202, while sporting strong job growth alongside it.

Rounding out the list was Buffalo, New York, due to its substantially cheaper rent than that of New York City — around $2,000 — and a decent number of job openings, but hampered by its low population of those in their 20s.

How did Zillow create the list?

The methodology used to comprise the list was rents from the Zillow Observed Rent Index, income provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, job growth data from Indeed’s Hiring Lab and the share of the population aged 21-29 from the one-year American Community Survey.

“The ranking is composed of the share of income spent on the typical asking rents, the typical recent graduate income, the share of the population aged 21-29, and job growth, with the share of income spent on rent weighted most negatively, and the share of the population aged 21-29 receiving less positive weight,” according to the Zillow report.