Here Are the Best (and Worst) Places to Kick Off Your Career

With college commencement ceremonies currently taking place around the nation, lots of eyes are on where this latest slew of grads will end up working. WalletHub wanted to find out which US cities were the best places to kick off one's career, so it looked at more than 180 of the country's largest, using more than two dozen metrics in two main categories: professional opportunities, including such factors as the availability of entry-level jobs, average starting salaries, and the unemployment rate; and quality of life (for example, average commute times, housing costs, family friendliness). Atlanta comes in at No. 1, per the rankings. Perhaps most surprising: New York City, the city that never sleeps, falls into the last-place slot. Read on for the top and bottom 10 cities for career newbies:

Best cities

1. Atlanta (No. 1 in "Professional Opportunities" category)
2. Orlando, Florida
3. Salt Lake City
4. Tampa, Florida
5. Pittsburgh
6. Portland, Maine
7. Charleston, South Carolina
8. Austin, Texas (No. 1 in "Quality of Life" category)
9. Miami
10. Knoxville, Tennessee

Worst cities

173. Oxnard, California
174. Jackson, Mississippi
175. Detroit
176. Newark, New Jersey
177. Cape Coral, Florida
178. Yonkers, New York
179. Santa Clarita, California
180. Pembroke Pines, Florida
181. Bridgeport, Connecticut
182. New York (last in "Professional Opportunities" category)

See how other cities ranked here. (These are the best cities for job seekers overall.)