Atlanta once again crowned best American city to start a career

Cap and pom pom season is here again, and graduates across the country might be wise to launch their professional lives in the city of Atlanta, according to an annual analysis.

To determine its list of the best and worst places to start a career for 2024, personal finance website WalletHub compared 182 U.S. cities based on 26 key “career friendliness” indicators, ranging from average monthly starting salary to the availability of entry-level jobs, and housing affordability, among other factors.

For the second year in a row, the city of Atlanta finished No. 1.

Atlanta took pole position in the key “professional opportunities” ranking. The city also earned the seventh-best overall score for quality of life, with all cities ranking higher in this category being much smaller, including the top-ranked Austin. (Sorry, Big Apple fans: New York City once again finished last overall.)

Over the past year, Atlanta has either remained stable or improved in each of the following categories except one (marked with an asterisk*), according to WalletHub’s analysis:

Starting your career in Atlanta (1 = best; 91 = average):

• 40th – Projected population growth (2046 compared to 2016)
• 16th – Average monthly starting salary (adjusted for cost of living)
• 15 – Entry-level jobs per 100,000 working-age inhabitants*
• 18th – Annual employment growth rate (adjusted for population growth)
• 60th – Unemployment rate
• 15 – Percentage of adults aged 25 and over with at least a bachelor’s degree
• Overall ranking: 1st

WalletHub’s study looked at the 150 most populous U.S. cities, as well as at least two of the most populous cities in each state.

In Georgia, analysts considered the city of Atlanta proper but excluded all other metro cities.

However, Augusta (No. 128) and Columbus (No. 130) also made the list.

Atlanta’s relatively high median household income (nearly $79,000) has worked in the city’s favor. Ditto for one of the highest median household income growth rates among U.S. cities, which WalletHub calculated for Atlanta at 8.9% per year.

“Additionally,” the analysts wrote in summary, “Atlanta offers numerous job opportunities at companies rated at least 4 out of 5 stars on (job search and review platform) Glassdoor, as well as numerous entry-level jobs and people have a high rate of satisfaction with their jobs.

In other positive news for the city, WalletHub has already ranked ATL as the sixth best large city to start a business. And for recent grads still looking to sow their wild oats, Atlanta also ranked fourth on the lists of Most Fun Cities and Best Cities for Singles.

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