Norwalk, Stamford Among Nation's Best Small Cities for College Grads to Start Careers

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Norwalk and Stamford ranked #9 and #15 respectively in a recent national survey on a timely topic amidst college graduation season.  Choosing where to live and work after graduation might be one of the most difficult decisions for young adults – which led to the analysis of a series of factors that could be considered with that decision on the immediate horizon.

Researchers at CoworkingCafe looked at job opportunities, income levels, cost of living, lifestyle amenities and other metrics in order to find the best U.S. cities for recent grads to start their careers. For an easier overview, these scores were combined into three main groups by area of interest: employment, financial and lifestyle. To reflect a fair comparison, the analysis segmented the cities into three population brackets: small, midsized and large.

Here are the main findings on Norwalk, among the nation’s leading small cities for starting a career after college and the only city in Connecticut ranked in the top 10:

  • Norwalk takes the 9th spot as one of the best small cities for recent grads to put down roots.

  • Norwalk ranks 11th by employment score with the lowest unemployment rate among young people (1.3%) and the 12th highest share of jobs suitable for recent grads (10.4%).

  • By financial score, Norwalk ranks 11th, with a median income of over $86K for people aged 25+ with a bachelor’s degree – the 8th highest among small cities.

Stamford takes the 15th spot as one of the best small cities for recent grads to put down roots.

  • Stamford ranks 7th by employment score with the 9th highest share of young population with a bachelor’s degree (55.4%) and the 12th highest share of jobs suitable for recent grads (10.4%).

  • Stamford ranks 34th for its median income of over $67K for people aged 25+ with a bachelor’s degree and for its share of young population with employer-based health insurance (63.2).

The top ranked small cities are Santa Clara, CA; Cambridge, MA; Bellevue, WA; Somerville, MA; Boulder, CO; Greenville, SC; Milpitas, CA; and Santa Monica, CA; just ahead of Norwalk.

In the other population brackets, Atlanta, GA, had the highest overall score, while San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA rounded out the podium of best large cities for recent college graduates. Arlington, VA led the way among midsize cities, followed by Sunnyvale, CA and Durham, NC. The analysis segmented the cities into three population brackets: small cities having up to 150,000 residents; large cities with 400,000 or more; and medium cities between those population totals.

For this analysis, CoworkingCafe relied on information from the most recent American Community Survey (ACS) and County Business Patterns (CBP) reports by the U.S. Census Bureau, along with additional data points from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Coworking space market data was provided by Yardi Matrix.