The 10 best cities in the US to start your career

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If you're about to graduate from college, you've probably started thinking about where you'll head next to kick off your career. 

According to new data from personal finance website Bankrate.com, young people consider five things when deciding on where to launch their career: social opportunities, job prospects, pay potential, career advancement, and quality of life.

By analyzing these five variables in the top 100 US cities (those with populations above 250,000 and a per capita GDP of above $40,000), Bankrate.com determined which cities are most and least ideal for starting a career.

To rank the cities, each of the five variables was scored on a scale of 1 to 100 — 1 being the best and 100 being the worst — considering metrics like employment rates, average salaries, and cost of living. (Read more on the methodology here.)

The following 10 cities are the highest ranking on the list — the places where it's easiest to launch a career:

10. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Social opportunities: 7

Job prospects: 73

Pay potential: 12

Career advancement: 7

Quality of life: 87

9. Dallas, Texas

Social opportunities: 5

Job prospects: 31

Pay potential: 21

Career advancement: 8

Quality of life: 93

8. Seattle, Washington

Social opportunities: 13

Job prospects: 53

Pay potential: 5

Career advancement: 11

Quality of life: 9