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The difficult job market—along with high rental prices—is why those eyeing a move to the likes of New York to chase their American Dream would have better luck turning their attention to smaller cities where competition is lower.

New research shows that Raleigh, N.C., is the best place for college grads to find their first jobs.

ADP Research Institute analyzed 55 U.S. metro areas with at least 1 million residents and assessed over 4 million twenty-something-year-olds—and Raleigh ranked highest with the best hiring rate for recent graduates, wages above the 80th percentile, and moderate affordability.

“Higher salaries in bustling metro areas might seem irresistible. But the actual value of a paycheck is more complex than it appears,” the report explains. “And to get that paycheck in the first place, you need to get hired.”

As part of America’s “Research Triangle,” Raleigh is home to more than 300 companies, many of which are in the science and technology sectors and looking for fresh talent.

Young new hires there can expect an annual wage (adjusted for affordability) of around $52,857.

Although grads can expect bigger paychecks (over $58,000) if they land a job in San Francisco’s Bay Area, they’ve got more than twice the chance of being hired in the first place at Raleigh.

The top 5 cities for college grads

1. Raleigh

Affordability-adjusted annual wage: $52,857

Hiring rate: 5%

2. Baltimore

Affordability-adjusted annual wage: $50,767

Hiring rate: 3.4%

(Hiring rate measures how much employers grew their headcount among highly prepared 20–29-year-olds)

3. Austin

Affordability-adjusted annual wage: $57,522

Hiring rate: 2.7%

4. Atlanta

Affordability-adjusted annual wage: $50,631

Hiring rate: 2.9%

5. Charlotte

Affordability-adjusted annual wage: $51,606

Hiring rate: 2.8%

Baltimore and Austin followed behind Raleigh in ADP’s rankings of the top metropolitan areas for job-seeking grads for similar reasons: strong science and technology employment prospects.

Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., complete the top five cities for college grads.

Why are college grads ‘unemployable’?

There’s a growing cohort of Gen Z who are classified as NEETs—“not in employment, education, or training”. But not all of them are unemployed by choice.

A significant chunk are highly qualified and want to work, but just can’t land a job—and may never, a Korn Ferry report recently warned.

During the pandemic, firms hit pause on their hiring to brace for a recession that ultimately never really arrived.

Now, employers are operating a “wait and watch strategy” as AI promises to revolutionize the way we work.

“They’re hesitant about committing to full-time roles,” Adam Prager, co-leader of the North America professional services practice at Korn Ferry, explained, adding that employers expect AI to make their workers more efficient and don’t want to resort to job cuts later down the line.

But employers’ cautiousness is creating a hellish experience for graduates looking to get a foot in the door of employment: As businesses cling to the workers they have and expect them to make do with less, fresh talent has become virtually unemployable.