San Diego named one of the best cities for college – Business News
California’s two largest cities received the cold shoulder in a new rating of the best locations for fresh-faced college graduates to launch their careers — whereas one other SoCal metropolis stole the highlight.
San Diego nabbed the No. 8 spot on Glassdoor and Redfin’s annual checklist of high massive cities for new grads, which scored 13 components throughout housing affordability, profession alternative and high quality of life.
Los Angeles and San Francisco didn’t make the grade.
“Soaring costs of living” are in charge for the twin snub, in keeping with Glassdoor’s evaluation. The similar brutal math pricing out younger staff throughout the nation’s priciest metros — together with New York, which additionally scored badly and was omitted from the checklist.
Aerial view of the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard, with ships docked and the Coronado Bridge in the background, San Diego, California. Getty Images
An aerial photograph, the Research and Development District (RaDD) is seen downtown alongside San Diego Bay on October 7, 2025. The San Diego Union-Tribune by way of Getty Images
San Diego didn’t precisely escape unscathed. The seashore metropolis ranked amongst the worst in the nation for housing affordability, with starter houses averaging a jaw-dropping $615,000 and down cost financial savings timelines stretching previous a decade. Early-career staff there can anticipate to blow 65% of their paychecks on mortgage funds alone.
Just final week, The Post reported final week that San Diego housing is so costly, residents are shifting to Tijuana whereas persevering with to work in the US.
But with average early-career earnings of $74,053, a sturdy labor market and enviable high quality of life, the report stated the metropolis “has so much else to offer.”
An aerial view of the downtown San Francisco skyline is seen on Thursday, July 10, 2025. San Francisco Chronicle by way of Getty Images
The checklist was compiled with solutions from a ballot which ran from February 9, via February 11, 2026 and was answered by over 1,800 U.S. professionals. PBXStudio – stock.adobe.com
The high spot went to Washington, D.C., the place new grads rake in almost $80,000 a yr on average and may buy a starter home for $320,000. Boston got here in third with the highest early-career salaries on the whole checklist — $80,026 — although renters there fork over 53% of their income on housing.
Three Texas cities, Dallas (No. 4), Houston (No. 6) and Austin (No. 10) — cracked the high 10, buoyed by inexpensive housing and booming job markets. Austin’s labor market ranked highest of any metropolis on the checklist, with wage growth presently outpacing home costs.
The checklist was compiled with solutions from a ballot which ran from February 9, via February 11, 2026 and was answered by over 1,800 U.S. professionals.
The report suggested new grads to “cast a wide net” and weigh what issues most earlier than planting roots — sound advice for anybody staring down $615,000 starter houses and a decade of ramen.
See the high 10 checklist of best cities for college graduates beneath:
Washington, D.C.
Omaha, Nebraska
Boston, Massachusetts
Dallas, Texas
Chicago, Illinois
Houston, Texas
St. Louis, Missouri
San Diego, California
Miami, Florida
Austin, Texas
