San Diego named one of the best cities for college…
California’s two largest cities bought the cold shoulder in a new rating 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 record 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 to blame 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 record.
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 view, the coastal neighborhood of La Jolla is seen on a clear, fall day on December 5, 2025 in San Diego. Getty Images
San Diego didn’t precisely escape unscathed. The seaside 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 anticipate 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 average 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.”
The top spot went to Washington, D.C., where new grads rake in practically $80,000 a yr on average and can buy a starter home for $320,000. Boston got here in third with the highest early-career salaries on the whole record — $80,026 — though renters there fork over 53% of their income on housing.
Three Texas cities, Dallas (No. 4), Houston (No. 6) and Austin (No. 10) — cracked the top 10, buoyed by inexpensive housing and booming job markets. Austin’s labor market ranked highest of any metropolis on the record, with wage growth at present outpacing home costs.
The record was compiled with solutions from a ballot which ran from February 9, through 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 advice for anybody staring down $615,000 starter houses and a decade of ramen.
See the top 10 record of best cities for college graduates below:
Washington, D.C.
Omaha, Nebraska
Boston, Massachusetts
Dallas, Texas
Chicago, Illinois
Houston, Texas
St. Louis, Missouri
San Diego, California
Miami, Florida
Austin, Texas
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