SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Seattle area No. 9 for ‘young, broke and single’
Jun 21, 2013, 8:01 AM | Updated: Mar 4, 2016, 5:52 am
A young man in banana costume offers free hugs during Seattle's annual Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. Young people living here can take advantage of a "focal point of an entrepreneurial/high-tech triangle that includes Portland and Bend to the south."
There are perfect cities for just about every group including “young, broke and single” according to a new survey by advice website MoneyUnder30.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area was ranked No. 9 and the curious, northern point of an “entrepreneurial/high-tech triangle that includes Portland and Bend.”
The site conducted a national survey to reveal the top cities that offer young professionals the best employment opportunities, lowest cost of living, and highest number of singles between the ages of 18 and 44.
Here are the cities that emerged in the top 10 and what helped put them on the list:
1. Austin, Texas: Rents are low comparable to other big cities, there are estimates of some 530 bars and restaurants, and unemployment is low at 5.1 percent.
2. Salt Lake City, Utah: The city boasts “mild winters and toasty summers” and is “one of the top places for gays to reside,” according to MoneyUnder 30.
3. Durham, N.C.: It’s known as the “City of Medicine” and has also appeared on Forbes list of America’s Best Cities for Young Professionals.
4. Columbus, Ohio: It’s home to Ohio State University, the nation’s largest college campus.
5. Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University is in this city, which features mild weather (the average high for January is 61 degrees), and has appeared in other surveys as a top-ranked place for young adults.
6. Omaha, Neb.: It features “a very cool music scene,” a revitalized downtown, and diversified employment base.
7. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La.: The area has earned the nickname “Hollywood South;” it’s home to Tulane University, and boasts a thriving oil industry and world famous enertainment and restaurants.
8. Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa: It has a low 5.8 percent unemployment rate and Forbes has ranked it as a “Best Place for Business” and among “America’s Best Cities for Young Professionals.”
9. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.: It’s “got a healthy overabundance of coffee shops,” is home to businesses like Microsoft, and has become the “focal point of an entrepreneurial/high-tech triangle that includes Portland and Bend to the south.”
10. Oklahoma City, Okla.: It averages a yearly temperature of 72 degrees, has a growing population, and strong employment bases in the energy industry and federal government.
