See if your city made the list.Robert Couse-Baker/flickr
A ranking of the best major metropolitan areas from the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) may help students having trouble making the call.
AIER calculated its list using nine economic, demographic, and quality-of-life factors. AIER defines major metropolitan cities as having over 2.5 million residents.
The report states that the most important factor in determining where recent graduates should relocate is the prevalence of other young recent grads.
"The location you choose to go to college determines where you will likely spend the next four years of your life, and possibly where you will start your career," Amanda Knarr, program coordinator at AIER, said in a press release. "Our ranking reflects the characteristics that make cities attractive to the average college student."
Aside from the overall ranking, we included cities' individual scores for noteworthy metrics including rent, earnings, and bars and restaurants. Of the nine metrics cities were rated based upon, we chose the one for which they scored highest.
Scroll through to find out the 15 best American cities for young college grads.
15. Miami, Florida
Population: 5,930,416
College student population in the metro area: 445,865
#4 Bars and Restaurants
14. St. Louis, Missouri
Population: 2,801,285
College student population in the metro area: 193,985
#1 Rent
13. Atlanta, Georgia
Population: 5,580,601
College student population in the metro area: 407,257
#1 Bars and Restaurants
12. Baltimore, Maryland
Population: 2,784,691
College student population in the metro area: 232,641
#6 Labor Force
11. San Diego, California
Population: 3,260,400
College student population in the metro area: 292,563
#2 Innovation
10. Houston, Texas
Population: 6,485,973
College student population in the metro area: 442,093
#2 Diversity
9. Dallas, Texas
Population: 6,951,526
College student population in the metro area: 441,376
#2 Rent
8. Chicago, Illinois
Population: 9,554,342
College student population in the metro area: 702,610
#5 Arts and Entertainment
7. Los Angeles, California
Population: 13,262,157
College student population in the metro area: 1,161,228
#1 Arts and Entertainment
6. New York, New York
Population: 20,093,674
College student population in the metro area: 1,436,905
#1 City Access
5. Seattle, Washington
Population: 3,672,113
College student population in the metro area: 260,572
#3 Innovation
4. Minneapolis, Minnesota
Population: 3,405,269
College student population in the metro area: 240,489
#1 Youth Unemployment
3. Washington, District of Columbia
Population: 6,034,629
College student population in the metro area: 499,437
#1 College Educated
2. Boston, Massachusetts
Population: 4,426,634
College student population in the metro area: 403,778
#1 Innovation
1. San Francisco, California
Population: 4,595,792
College student population in the metro area: 364,608
#1 Diversity
