California’s two biggest cities got the cold shoulder in a new ranking of the best places for fresh-faced college graduates to launch their careers — while another SoCal city stole the spotlight.
San Diego nabbed the No. 8 spot on Glassdoor and Redfin’s annual list of top large cities for new grads, which scored 13 factors across housing affordability, career opportunity and quality of life.
Los Angeles and San Francisco did not make the grade.
“Soaring costs of living” are to blame for the dual snub, according to Glassdoor’s analysis. The same brutal math pricing out young workers across the country’s priciest metros — including New York, which also scored badly and was omitted from the list.
San Diego didn’t exactly escape unscathed. The beach city ranked among the worst in the nation for housing affordability, with starter homes averaging a jaw-dropping $615,000 and down payment savings timelines stretching past a decade. Early-career workers there can expect to blow 65% of their paychecks on mortgage payments alone.
Just last week, The Post reported last week that San Diego housing is so expensive, residents are moving to Tijuana while continuing to work in the US.
But with average early-career earnings of $74,053, a strong labor market and enviable quality of life, the report said the city “has so much else to offer.”
The top spot went to Washington, D.C., where new grads rake in nearly $80,000 a year on average and can buy a starter home for $320,000. Boston came in third with the highest early-career salaries on the entire list — $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 affordable housing and booming job markets. Austin’s labor market ranked highest of any city on the list, with wage growth currently outpacing home prices.
The list was compiled with answers from a poll which ran from February 9, through February 11, 2026 and was answered by over 1,800 U.S. professionals.
The report advised new grads to “cast a wide net” and weigh what matters most before planting roots — sound advice for anyone staring down $615,000 starter homes and a decade of ramen.
See the top 10 list 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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