Both the job and the real estate markets are still in recovery, and probably will be for quite some time — but even so, it’s not surprising that Millennials are on the hunt for high paying jobs (aren’t we all). So: In what city can you make the most money? Real estate analytics website RealtyTrac (via TIME) recently crunched some numbers for U.S. Census data collected between 2007 and 2013; accordingly, they’ve come up with a list of the ten places Millennials are flocking for jobs with meaty salaries. Here’s what they found:
According to RealtyTrac’s analysis, Virginia takes the top two slots for largest growth in Millennial population: Arlington County and Alexandria City have seen an 82 and 81 percent increase over the past six to seven years. This makes a certain amount of sense, considering that the metro area for both of them is Washington D.C.; there are jobs in D.C., and a lot of them pay quite well (the unemployment rates for Arlington and Alexandria are both around 3.7 percent). Other popular spots include New Orleans with an unemployment rate of 5.1 percent and jobs available both in transportation and in local oil refineries; Clarksville, Tennessee with an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent and spillover from the Nashville job market; and New York, because…well, it’s New York, and that appeals to a lot of people.
(I kid. I still love you, New York.)
Not going to lie, though: I’m a little bit surprised by some of the cities on the list. Sure, they may have higher paying jobs — but they’re also frequently in areas where the extra cash isn’t going to go nearly as far. San Francisco, for example, may be a hotbed of tech jobs; however, the at a median of $3,100 for one-bedroom apartments and $4,050 for two-bedroom options, the rents are also higher there than anywhere else in the country. When you start considering how much bang you can get for your buck, the whole thing sort of becomes a bit of a quandary: Do I move somewhere I can make more money, only to see less of that money overall because of living expenses? Or do I move to a place where I might make less, but see more of it in both the long and the short term? Consider it food for thought.
Here’s RealtyTrac’s full list. Would you trade high paychecks for high costs of living?
Image: Giphy
