Where should a new grad set up shop?

by Florence Kizza

Executive Briefing

July 2006

Knoxville, Tennessee is the most affordable city for college graduates, according to the Economic Research Institute. Bridgeport, Connecticut is second, while New York City is at the bottom of the list.

The ERI survey of 261 cities considered entry-level jobs in accounting, law, teaching, sales and engineering. ERI's Affordability Index compared salary and geography to cost-of-living expenses such as rent, utilities, taxes, and transportation. Knoxville's affordability index of 13.5 compares with -99.4 for New York City.

The top 10 are …

1. Knoxville, Tennessee
2. Bridgeport, Connecticut
3. Kokomo, Indiana
4. Reading, Pennsylvania
5. Florence, Alabama
6. York, Pennsylvania
7. Peoria, Illinois
8. Charleston, West Virginia
9. Idaho Falls, Idaho
10.Huntsville, Alabama

And the bottom five …

257. Los Angeles
258. Honolulu
259. Washington, DC
260. San Francisco
261. New York-Manhattan