Forbes ranks Phoenix area fourth on list of best cities for young professionals

Metro Phoenix is a very good place for young professionals, the fourth-best place in the country, as a matter of fact.

That is what Forbes has determined, grouping three Valley cities together for a spot in the upper echelon of its top 100 best cities for recent college graduates.

The list was compiled by Forbes measuring certain numbers.

To compile Forbes’ annual list of America’s best cities for young professionals we ranked each of the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas and divisions in the Unites States by metrics crucial to recent degree holders: salary, rent, employment prospects, networking opportunities and social outlook.

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale ranked fourth. The combined areas had a recent graduate median salary of $50,400, a median rent as share of median salary at 21 percent, an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent and projected annual job growth of 2.97 percent, which was ranked second.

The cities rated above the Valley trio were Salt Lake, Boise, Idaho and San Francisco.

For more on how the numbers were chosen, see Forbes’ metrics.

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