Austin ranked in top 5 cities for recent college grads to find a job, study says

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Recent college graduates entering the job market can shoot their shot in Austin metro after it was ranked as one of the top five cities to find work, according to a new study by ADP, a payroll-services provider.

Other cities in the top five include Raleigh, North Carolina; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Baltimore, Maryland and Birmingham, Alabama. Austin was also included in the top five list last year, according to ADP.

Ben Hanowell, ADP Research's director of people analytics, said those cities "tend to have a higher-than-usual concentration of technology, health and financial firms," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Austin was 94 in the combined ranked percentile rank. The annual wage is estimated at $58,404, with a 1.02 nation-to-metro cost of living ratio, an affordability-adjusted annual wage of $59,828 and a 2,80 hiring rate, according to the ADP study.

ADP compared metro areas by looking at 55 U.S. metro areas with at least 1 million residents and compared them on three characteristics: annual wages, hiring rates and affordability.

WSJ said Austin remained strong in the hiring market due to the expansion of semiconductors, clean tech, AI and other tech industries.

"Though housing costs remain an issue, rents have declined nearly 3% from last year, and the city council has committed to building more affordable housing, says Eric Hale, director of education and workforce policy at the Austin Chamber of Commerce, told WSJ.

For years, the Austin area has been one of the most sought-after metros in the country when it comes to real estate. KXAN's Christopher Adams keeps track of home prices, as well as several other data points, to help buyers and sellers stay on top of trends in the market.