Austin Named Best City to Start a Career, Thanks to Its Booming Job Market and Quality of Life

Move over Silicon Valley because Austin, Texas is taking center stage for work, having been named the best city to start a career.

A new Bankrate study ranks Austin as the #1 city to start a career.

He study took into account several factors when analyzing the top 50 metropolitan areas, such as rental prices relative to affordability, the employment outlook, and quality of life.

The Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas Statistical Area was ranked #12 for affordability, #3 for job opportunities and #1 for quality of life.

Austin has seen both an explosion in popularity and a multitude of businesses in the area thanks to low taxes. Elon Musk’s Tesla has moved to Austin and Dell Technologies continues to call the area home.

Other cities that made the top 10 included Seattle, Nashville and Raleigh, North Carolina.

The study took several factors into account when looking at the top 50 metropolitan areas, such as rental prices relative to affordability, the employment landscape and quality of life. Pictured: Tesla Giga manufacturing plant

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley bigwigs moved to Austin, Texas in 2020

Bryce Bencivengo of the Austin Chamber of Commerce said ranking a city goes beyond job opportunities.

‘It’s not just a business opportunity, because if you have that, it’s part of the recipe. But the other parts of the recipe, including the quality of life that we have here, is unparalleled,” Bencivengo said.

With the University of Texas, endless opportunities for outdoor activities and a vibrant culture, Austin offers an excellent work-life balance, which is something young people have prioritized since the pandemic, the report noted.

Recent graduates are not only looking for career opportunities, but also to embrace the lifestyle Austin has to offer, from restaurants, bars and music festivals to parks and nature trails.

Additionally, Austin has become one of the fastest growing technology centers in the country.

Thousands of Americans left major metropolitan areas during the pandemic, including New York and San Francisco, for more affordable states like Texas, according to Bankrate.

The COVID-19 outbreak has fueled what some experts are calling a mass exodus of people from some of the country’s biggest tech and financial centers, with workers now looking to areas with lower taxes and less government regulation.

The Seattle Space Needle. The Northwest Center ranked second on Bankrate’s list

Salt Lake City’s downtown skyline ranked #3 overall, but only #29 for affordability

Raleigh, North Carolina, ranked fourth on the list. The area is known for being home to several universities, including NC State, which won the 2021 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Nashville and its popular downtown bar scene ranked fifth on the list of best cities to start a career.

“The pandemic has made people reevaluate what is important to them versus what has been pushed,” race coach Raquel Cid told Bankrate.

“Because the previous narrative was that you graduate and go to one of the major cities, and you make it work with a roommate,” he added.

‘Not being able to pay where you live became normal. But the pandemic, and the restrictions it brought with it, have changed what young people find normal.’

The majority of Gen Z professionals, 87 percent, would consider leaving a job that ranges from diversity to work-life balance that doesn’t align with their own, according to an April report from LinkedIn .

Those big advantages, plus tech companies like Dell and IBM, have led to the rise of a young population and the new nickname, ‘Silicon Hills.’

In the past 10 years, tech jobs have increased 62 percent in the Austin metropolitan area, outpacing gains across all industries by nearly 37 percent, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Austin, Texas, topped the list of the best places to live in America in 2019, according to US News & World Report’s annual analysis.

People pose for photos as snow falls in downtown Indianapolis, which was ranked #6 on Bankrate’s list

A Dallas Zoo employee cools down an elephant in the Texas heat. Dallas was ranked #7 in Best Cities to Start a Career

Kansas City finished eighth overall on the list, and the city is home to the NFL’s Chiefs and the famous barbecue joint.

The top 10 cities to start a career are: Austin; Seattle; Salt Lake City; Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville; Indianapolis; Dallas; Kansas City; Atlanta and San Jose, California.

Five southern states – Austin, Raleigh, Nashville, Dallas and Atlanta – made the top 10. Although neither belonged to the traditional economic powerhouse of the Northeast.

Seattle was ranked No. 2 overall on the list and finished in first place in the employment opportunity ranking.

The central Pacific Northwest is home to large employers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Starbucks.

Salt Lake City was ranked third on the list, and ranked second in job opportunities and ninth in quality of life. However, the Utah capital was ranked 29th for overall affordability.

Atlanta, which hosted the 1996 Olympics, was ranked #9 on Bankrate’s Best Cities to Launch a Races list.

San Jose, California ranked #10 overall and #4 in job opportunities

Raleigh, North Carolina, is part of the area known as the ‘research triangle’ which also includes Durham and Greensboro. The region is home to several universities, including North Carolina State and Duke University.

That likely helped Raleigh land at No. 4 on Bankrate’s list of top cities to start a career. The city was ranked No. 4 for affordability, where Redfin lists the median home price at $415,000.

Rounding out the top five was Nashville, home to country music and a lively bar scene. The popular downtown area and mild temperatures found in the city likely contributed to Bankrate’s #6 quality of living ranking.

Nashville was ranked #8 in employment opportunities.