What is the best city in America in which to find a job and settle?

One of the questions I feel young college graduates need to know the answer to is “What is the best city in America in which to find a job and settle?”

An article appeared in USA Today discussing the top ten cities in America luring young professional people into their community. Some of the communities named include Pittsburgh, Richmond, Memphis, Tampa, Indianapolis, Baton Rouge, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Tallahassee and Fresno. Other cities named not included in the top ten were San Antonio and Austin, Texas. These cities are launching web sites, organizing summits, staging arts and music festivals and investing in glitzy promotions specifically to lure young professionals. Metropolitan centers such as San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Atlanta, Washington and Boston have never had difficulty attracting young professionals until recently. Big cities no longer have the same appeal to young professionals because of numerous unpleasant urban issues including traffic, crime, pollution, and outrageous housing expenses. Many corporations are setting up operations in smaller cities such as the Intel Corporation has done in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. According to the US Census Bureau, two-thirds of the fifty largest metropolitan areas had fewer young adults in 2000 than in 1990.

If you are seeking a professional position in a city such as becoming a schoolteacher, a good location may be dependent upon affordable housing. Such cities as Rio Rancho, New Mexico and Fresno, California would be excellent choices. A new medium priced home in Rio Rancho is $208,000. In Fresno, California, the medium priced home is $335,000. The starting salary for a public schoolteacher in Rio Rancho, New Mexico is $35,000 annually. In comparison, the starting salary for a schoolteacher in Fresno, California is $42,000.

A recent college graduate might easily accept a job without properly researching the availability and cost of housing in that location. One of my children has a Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering. He works for an excellent company in Thousand Oaks, California and is compensated well for his profession. However, he would have great difficulty affording a home in Thousand Oaks. The medium priced home averages 1.1 million dollars. As much as I love my son, I will never be able to lend him the sizeable down payment required to purchase a home near his job. Many of his co-workers commute one and a half hours to their job, just so they can own a home.

There are other factors to consider such as the cost of living. A perfect example is San Jose, California and Austin, Texas. A salary of $50,000 in Austin, Texas has the same buying power that a salary of $76,263 has in San Jose, California. In other words, the cost of living in San Jose, California is 52.5% higher than that of Austin, Texas.

Many of the students with whom I am acquainted at UNM are not native New Mexicans and upon graduation plan to return to their home to seek employment. In the event that a graduate is considering accepting a job in an area of the country with which they are not familiar, researching housing and the cost of living is paramount information.