Arlington is the second-best “city” in the nation for recent college graduates, according to the website NerdWallet.
Arlington County received high marks for “the environment offered for recent college graduates looking to get a foothold in the working world,” which factors in “jobs, age of the population, rent costs, median earnings and unemployment.”
Arlington was second only to Madison, Wisconsin, and ahead of Seattle, Minneapolis and Boston, which ranked No. 3-5.
Here’s what NerdWallet wrote about Arlington:
Just over the Potomac River from the nation’s capital, Arlington is part of the densely populated region known as Northern Virginia, or NOVA. Rents are the highest among the top 10 — a median of $1,844 a month — and third-highest in our analysis. That the median income is $75,025 doesn’t quite offset the cost of living: Arlington’s young professionals still pour about 30% of their income into rent. Where it thrives is the percentage of workers in high-paying management, business, science and arts occupations (topping our list at 68%), likely due to the large technology, government contracting and finance employers in the region.
“With employers reporting plans to hire 5% more graduates in 2017 than in 2016, it appears the employment outlook for recent graduates is on the upswing,” said a NerdWallet PR rep. “That’s good news for the city [sic] of Arlington.”