You’ve graduated. Now what?
You’ve graduated. Now what?<br>May 3, 2026
Explore Sections<br>Sections
Top four metros for grads<br>Bottom four metros for grads<br>Biggest movers<br>Metro rank<br>Methodology
Author: Sam Adieze
Topics in this post:EmploymentLabor Market TrendsResearch
As graduation approaches, many college students might be asking what comes next—especially in a labor market that has cooled for the kinds of jobs that recent grads typically fill. In a tougher market, knowing where the best opportunities are matters more than ever.<br>For the third year, we set out to answer a few questions facing new graduates. How strong is the job market? Where will my starting salary go the farthest? And where are recent graduates most likely to be hired?<br>Ultimately, we were looking for the best combination of pay, affordability, and opportunity.<br>To find it, we turned to the anonymized ADP payroll data of more than 409,000 people aged 20 to 29 at more than 20,000 U.S. employers, spanning January 2025 through January 2026. We then ranked 53 U.S. metro areas with at least one million residents based on wages, hiring, and cost of living.<br>This year’s results look very different than last year’s. None of 2025’s top four metro areas held their ground, and some of the new contenders might come as a surprise. But after three years of reporting on the best metros for grads, a few continue to show up near the top—and a few others remain stuck near the bottom.
Here’s how U.S. metros stacked up.<br>Birmingham and Tampa ascend<br>After two years at the top, Raleigh, N.C., was swept aside by another southern economic powerhouse: Birmingham-Hoover, Ala., which climbed from fifth place to first.<br>Greater Birmingham’s rise was driven by strong hiring and rapid wage growth. Between January 2025 and January 2026, the metro posted a strong 2.8 percent hiring rate, and median annual wages for recent graduates jumped more than 16 percent to $59,004. The region was more affordable than all but two of the metros we studied.<br>Florida’s Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region made one of the biggest leaps, jumping from 26th in our rankings to second place. The region’s hiring rate increased from 2.6 percent to 3.4 percent, one of the fastest paces in our sample.<br>California’s San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and Columbus, Ohio, rounded out the top four, both also propelled by improved hiring. Greater San Jose rose from 14th place to third after its hiring rate edged up from 2.3 percent to 2.7 percent. While the region boasted the highest wages in our sample, it still fell short on affordability.<br>Greater Columbus jumped in the rankings after its pace of hiring accelerated from 2.4 percent to 3.1 percent. Whereas affordability tripped up San Jose, wages held back Columbus.
These metros lagged<br>At the bottom of the rankings, we found some familiar names. Salt Lake City and California’s Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario region both returned to the bottom four. Salt Lake has weaker hiring than all but one metro, as well as below-median wages and affordability. Riverside has lower college grad wages than all but one metro, and below-median hiring and affordability.<br>San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif., and Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, which straddles Oregon and Washington, rounded out the bottom four. Both offer relatively strong wages, but with some of the slowest hiring rates in our sample. Affordability, too, lagged. Even graduates who do land jobs in these metros face a tough financial tradeoff in the form of high cost of living.
The Silicon Valley surprise<br>With layoffs sweeping the technology sector and artificial intelligence reshaping hiring, one might expect tech hubs to have a weak showing in our graduate ranking.<br>That wasn’t the case. San Jose climbed to third, and San Francisco rose four places to seventh, both buoyed by solid hiring.<br>Elsewhere, the picture was different. Seattle ranked 38th, and the secondary tech hubs of Portland and San Diego fell near the bottom, dragged down by hiring rates in the bottom 25th percentile.<br>In Texas, the Austin-Round Rock region fell from fourth place as the pace of hiring slowed from 2.8 percent to 2.4 percent. Miami maintained its steady hiring, but stagnant wages and high costs kept it near the bottom on affordability, behind only San Franciso.<br>Phoenix rises—then falls<br>Last year, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metro was one of our biggest upward movers. This year, the region was pulled down by flat wages and cool hiring. One bright spot: affordability improved slightly relative to other metros, perhaps helped by a normalizing housing market.
What happened to Raleigh?<br>Raleigh slipped from the top spot to fifth this year, but it remains a strong contender for new graduates.<br>More broadly, the rankings continue to favor fast-growing Southern metros, including Tampa, Tennessee’s Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin region, Austin, Tex., and Charlotte, N.C.<br>The large coastal hubs consistently rank in the top half. New...