San Diego named one of the best cities for college graduates 2026

San Diego named one of the best cities for college graduates 2026

California’s two greatest cities obtained the chilly shoulder in a new ranking of the best locations for fresh-faced college graduates to launch their careers — while another SoCal metropolis stole the highlight.

San Diego nabbed the No. 8 spot on Glassdoor and Redfin’s annual listing of top large cities for new grads, which scored 13 components across housing affordability, profession alternative and high quality of life.

Los Angeles and San Francisco didn’t make the grade.

“Soaring costs of living” are responsible for the twin snub, according to Glassdoor’s analysis. The same brutal math pricing out younger staff across the nation’s priciest metros — including New York, which also scored badly and was omitted from the listing.

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 through Getty Images

San Diego didn’t precisely escape unscathed. The seashore metropolis ranked among the worst in the nation for housing affordability, with starter houses averaging a jaw-dropping $615,000 and down cost financial savings timelines stretching past a decade. Early-career staff there can count on to blow 65% of their paychecks on mortgage funds alone.

Just last week, The Post reported last week that San Diego housing is so costly, residents are shifting to Tijuana while persevering with to work in the US.

But with common early-career earnings of $74,053, a strong labor market and enviable high quality of life, the report said 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 through Getty Images

The listing was compiled with solutions from a ballot which ran from February 9, by February 11, 2026 and was answered by over 1,800 U.S. professionals. PBXStudio – inventory.adobe.com

The top spot went to Washington, D.C., the place new grads rake in almost $80,000 a yr on common and should purchase a starter house for $320,000. Boston got here in third with the highest early-career salaries on the total listing — $80,026 — though renters there fork over 53% of their revenue on housing.

Three Texas cities, Dallas (No. 4), Houston (No. 6) and Austin (No. 10) — cracked the top 10, buoyed by reasonably priced housing and booming job markets. Austin’s labor market ranked highest of any metropolis on the listing, with wage development at the moment outpacing house costs.

The listing was compiled with solutions from a ballot which ran from February 9, by 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 before planting roots — sound recommendation for anybody staring down $615,000 starter houses and a decade of ramen.

See the top 10 listing of best cities for college graduates below:

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