According to Richard Florida, co-founder and editor at large of
CityLab.com, Minneapolis-St. Paul is one of the best places for recent college graduates.
The Twin Cities placed sixth among 20 metro areas studied.
Using economic and labor market data provided by
EMSI, Florida and his crew ranked America's 100 largest metros based on
Bureau of Labor Statistics figures on full-time regular employment for about 320 occupations that require post-secondary education. They then ranked the data using five key factors:
• Percent change in jobs requiring post-secondary education from 2010 to 2014.
• Percentage of 25-34 year olds who hold these positions.
• Average wages for these jobs requiring post-secondary education.
• Concentration of these jobs based on their "location quotient."
• Share of new jobs requiring post-secondary education that can be attributed to local economic conditions or competitiveness.
"Tech and knowledge hubs lead the pack," Florida
writes. "San Francisco takes first place, followed by San Jose, the center of the Silicon Valley. Austin is third, Seattle, fourth, and Denver, fifth. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Boston, Houston, Raleigh and L.A. round out the top ten. Overall the leading metros for these highly-skilled jobs reflect the twin pillars of
America’s knowledge-energy economy."