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Best 10 cities for recent college graduates

Finding a job after college is imperative for many college seniors and some cities offer more career opportunities than others. As we approach graduation season, NerdWallet crunched the numbers to find the best cities in the US for recent college graduates. Can you guess which city came out on top? 

4. San Francisco

Eric Risberg/AP/File
Two surfers ride a wave near Fort Point below the Golden Gate Bridge Saturday, May 3, 2014, in San Francisco.

  • By Sreekar Jasthi Guest blogger

Population between 20-29: 17.8 percent

Population 25 or older with a Bachelor's degree: 32.9 percent

Median earnings for Bachelor's degree holders: 61,426

Cost of living index: 161.6

Workers with management, business, science or arts jobs: 53.1 percent

 Unemployment rate: 6 percent

Overall score: 70.73

San Francisco has many attractive features to draw fresh grads to the West Coast, including a well-educated and professional population and an active social scene. The cost of living in San Francisco is extremely high, but it’s somewhat offset by the highest median earnings for those with Bachelor’s degrees of all top ten cities on the list. Major industries include information technology, life sciences, digital media and financial services. Some of the country’s biggest tech giants can be found in the area, such as Google, Twitter, and Salesforce.com.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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