Photo by Elvert Barnes
As if D.C. needs more transient millennials, personal finance site NerdWallet ranked the District third on its 2016 list of best cities for recent college graduates.
D.C. has made the list four years in a row because—despite being associated with the government—more than 60 percent of its workforce is employed in management, business, science, or the arts, according to the report.
Arlington, Va. is ranked first in part because more than 70 percent of its 25-and-older population has at least a bachelor’s degree—the highest percentage on the list of 100 cities. At 67 percent, Arlington also has the highest number of jobs in management, business, science, or the arts.
To determine the rankings, NerdWallet looked U.S. Census Bureau data covering job options, the ages of populations, and rent costs and median earnings, in addition to unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While D.C. and Arlington have pricier costs of living than other places, they made the list partly because median earnings offset steep rents, the report says. In Arlington, rent takes up nearly a third of paychecks for residents over the age of 25 who have bachelor’s degrees. In D.C., this demographic gives up around 26 percent of their earnings pay the rent.