Scottsdale is best city in nation to get a summer job, analysis shows

PHOENIX – If you are looking for a summer job, Scottsdale is the place to be.

Personal finance website WalletHub rated the Phoenix suburb as the best place in the country for summer employment.

Scottsdale wound up on top of the rankings in part because of the abundance of summer jobs and excellent pay.

“Summer employment growth has actually grown by about 4 percent in Scottsdale (since last year). … That’s a huge number,” Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Tuesday.

Gonzalez said Scottsdale has “a lot of tourism jobs, a lot of recreational jobs that really see a huge jump in the summer.”

And a summer job in Scottsdale pays relatively well. The city had the nation’s highest median income for part-time workers (adjusted for cost of living), according to WalletHub, at $24,636.

“From a part-time job, that’s a really decent amount of money,” Gonzalez said, noting that the figure in nearby Phoenix was around $15,000 and in Tempe around $12,000.

The study compared the relative strength of more than 180 U.S. markets across 21 categories that were broken down into two dimensions — youth job market, and social environment and affordability.

Scottsdale ranked first for youth job market and fourth for social environment and affordability.

Chandler was the next highest Arizona city in the overall ranking at No. 26, followed closely by No. 27 Tempe.

The other Arizona cities rated were No. 39 Phoenix, No. 47 Mesa, No. 58 Peoria, No. 64 Gilbert, No. 75 Glendale and No. 94 Tucson.

While Gilbert wasn’t high in the overall rankings, it led the nation in one category measured — the lowest share of people aged 16 to 24 living in poverty (8.69 percent).

On the national list, Scottsdale was joined, in order, by Orlando, Florida; Columbia, Maryland; Denver; and Portland, Maine, in the top five.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.

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