More than ever before, flexibility and remote work have allowed recent college graduates to exercise greater freedom in where they live and work after graduation. Furthermore, the great resignation has encouraged individuals to find employment in areas of the country where cost of living is lower and quality of life is higher.
Insurify conducted a study of the best cities for new college graduates, including factors like affordability, starting-salary, entertainment, and transportation. They identified the top 10 metro areas:
St Louis, MO
Minneapolis, MN
Rapid City, SD
Pittsburgh, PA
Lincoln, NE
Portland, OR
Fargo, ND
Fort Wayne, IN
Denver, CO
Tampa, FL
Leveraging Steppingblocks Data
To take the analysis a step further, we then used Steppingblocks data to explore the outcomes for graduates in those areas. To obtain a comprehensive picture of education and workforce outcomes, we collect, organize, classify and analyze demographic, education and employment data from hundreds of sources. Our data then undergoes a rigorous process of validation for quality and veracity to ensure reliable, high-quality information on over 135 million people, over 25 million companies and over 1 billion career milestones. Our analysis included:
Industry: The top industries by volume for each metro area.
Employers: Top employers within these industries for each metro area. Note: Institutions are very frequently one of their own top employers and have been excluded from the list of top employers.
Salary: Average salary for these industries (combined) in each metro area.
Universities: The top undergraduate and graduate universities by volume contributing to these industries in each metro area. Note: Some universities may report high volume for an out-of-state institution. Our analysis was based on residents of a metro area rather than where the university is located.
Would you like more information about your institutions alumni data and graduate outcomes? Feel free to reach out to our team to learn more.
Top industries: Healthcare, Education, Information Technology, Finance
Top employers in these industries: BJC Healthcare, Mercy, Edward Jones, Centene Corporation, Wells Fargo
Average salary in these industries: $72,536
Top universities producing graduates who work in these industries: University of Missouri-Columbia, Saint Louis Community College, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Saint Louis University, Lindenwood University
Postgraduate degree?: 46% of people have a postgraduate degree
Top industries: Healthcare, Education, Information Technology, and Finance
Top employers in these industries: Wells Fargo, US Bank, Allina Health, Fairview Health Services
Average salary in these industries: $66,609
Top universities producing graduates who work in these industries: University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, University of Minnesota, Metropolitan State University, University of St Thomas
Postgraduate degree?: 38% of people have a postgraduate degree
Top industries: Healthcare, Education, Finance, Hospitality
Top employers in these industries: US Airforce, Monument Health (Hospital & Health Care), Regional Health, Rapid City Area Schools
Average salary in these industries: $66,579
Top universities producing graduates who work in these industries: Black Hills State University, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, South Dakota State University, University of South Dakota
Postgraduate degree?: 40% of people have a postgraduate degree
Top industries: Healthcare, Education, Information Technology, Finance
Top employers in these industries: UPMC, PNC, Allegheny Health Network, BNY Mellon
Average salary in these industries: $72,533
Top universities producing graduates who work in these industries: University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, Community College of Allegheny County, Duquesne University, Robert Morris University
Postgraduate degree?: 49% of people have a postgraduate degree
Top industries: Education, Healthcare, Information Technology, Finance
Top employers in these industries: Lincoln Public Schools, Bryan Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Fiserv
Average salary in these industries: $65,302
Top universities producing graduates who work in these industries: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Southeast Community College, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Doane University
Postgraduate degree?: 39% of people have postgraduate degrees
Top industries: Information Technology, Education, Healthcare, Consumer Goods
Top employers in these industries: Nike, Intel, Providence Health, Kaiser Permanente
Average salary in these industries: $74,106
Top Universities producing graduates who work in these industries: Portland State University, Portland Community College, University of Oregon, Oregon State University
Postgraduate degree?: 36% of people have postgraduate degrees
Top industries: Healthcare, Education, Information Technology, Finance
Top employers in these industries: Sanford Health, Microsoft, Essentia Health, U.S. Bank
Average salary in these industries: $67,459
Top Universities producing graduates who work in these industries: North Dakota State University, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Concordia College, Minnesota State Community and Technical College
Postgraduate degree?: 34% of people have postgraduate degrees
Top industries: Education, Healthcare, Finance, Information Technology
Top employers in these industries: Parkview Health, Lincoln Financial Group, Ft. Wayne Schools, Sweetwater
Average salary in these industries: $74,106
Top universities producing graduates who work in these industries: Indiana University Bloomington, Ball State University, Purdue University, Ivy Tech Community College
Postgraduate degree?: 37% of people have postgraduate degrees
Top industries: Information Technology, Education, Healthcare, Finance
Top employers in these industries: Denver Public Schools, UCHealth, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Kaiser Permanente, Charles Schwab
Average salary in these industries: $75,429
Top universities producing graduates who work in these industries: University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado State University, University of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Postgraduate degree?: 38% of people have postgraduate degrees
Top industries: Healthcare, Information Technology, Finance, Education
Top employers in these industries: Moffitt Cancer Center, PWC, Hillsborough Schools, Tampa General, Baycare Health, Verizon
Average salary in these industries: $72,564
Top universities producing graduates who work in these industries: University of South Florida, Hillsborough Community College, University of Florida, University of Tampa
Postgraduate degree?: 33% of people have postgraduate degrees
Graduation outcomes have become increasingly important to higher education. Universities across the country are leveraging outcomes data to make strategic decisions or support their student success initiatives.
For example, Florida International University is leveraging data in their efforts to support alumni success. Georgia State is putting data-driven career roadmaps in the hands of every student as part of their leadership on the Taskforce of Higher Education and Opportunity.
Interested in how you could leverage Steppingblocks? Explore now.
Want to see where your institution ranks or to see how we developed these rankings in real time? Get a free consultation for student success, and we’ll show you a lifetime of graduate outcomes data in seconds.
Photo by Steppingblocks.