According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for workers with a Bachelor's degree averaged just 2.8% in 2015.
That is much lower than the overall rate of 4.3% and it means that for most college grads finding a job should not be difficult. That's not to say that college grads have it easy.
Student loan debt is soaring (the average student now owes more than $35,000 at the time of graduation).
Likewise, those low unemployment figures belie the reality of an economy in which college graduates too often have to settle for low-paying or part-time jobs.
For college students with the ability to relocate after graduation, choosing the right place to live can go a long way toward alleviating some of these problems.
For instance, in a city with low housing costs and a strong employment market, a college graduate may have an easier time paying down that debt. That, in turn, can allow her to get an earlier start on financial priorities like buying a home or saving for retirement.
To find the best cities for college graduates, SmartAsset gathered and analyzed data on more than 100 of the largest cities in the country. We looked at three dimensions of life for college graduates in each city: the cost of living, the jobs market and how fun it is to live in the city. We assigned each city a score on those three measures and averaged the three scores to find the top overall cities. (Read our full methodology and sources below.)
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Key findings
O-H-I-O. The Buckeye State claims two of the top three cities for college grads, with Cincinnati ranking first and Columbus ranking third. These Ohio cities rate well across all three categories of metrics we considered: they are affordable and fun places to live, while still offering strong employment opportunities to new graduates.
Unemployment down, cost of living up. In more than half of major American cities, college graduates face unemployment rates of less than 3.5%. On the other hand, the cost of living in many of these same cities is increasing. That can make it hard to pay off debt, even for grads with jobs.
SEE ALSO: How much it costs for a single person to live in 24 major US cities
10. Wichita, Kansas
Wichita rates as the fifth most affordable city in our study, scoring a 93.36 on that measure. The median rent paid by Wichita residents is just $548 per month. The city's job market is also fairly strong for college graduates, who face an unemployment rate of just 2.6% in the Wichita area. That's 19th lowest among the cities in SmartAsset's study.
9. Madison, Wisconsin
As of December, 2015, the unemployment rate in the Madison area was just 2.9%, fifth lowest of any major U.S. city. There is even greater demand in Madison for workers with a bachelor's degree, who face an unemployment rate of less than 2.5%.
Madison is also a fun place for young people to live. It has the third-highest population proportion of twenty-somethings of any major U.S. city. It also features the seventh-highest concentration of bars, restaurants and entertainment establishments.
8. Omaha, Nebraska
The largest city in Nebraska, Omaha has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. For workers with a bachelor's degree unemployment was just 2.3% in the Omaha area on average during 2014 (the most recent year for which education-specific unemployment data is available). That's the eighth lowest rate of any major U.S. city. Overall unemployment was 3.0% as of December 2015, the sixth-lowest rate in the U.S.
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