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Rent too high to live anywhere other than your childhood bedroom? Swiped through all of your Tinder options in 15 minutes? It may be time to pack up and move. The only question is where, but thankfully, Forbes has our back with their release of the best cities for millennials in 2015. These U.S. cities are ranked by a combination of unemployment rate, percentage of millennials, millennials moving into the city, and average rent price. I’ve picked some of the highlights for you guys, and honestly, some of these rent prices are making me seriously consider reserving a uHaul right now.
25. Tempe, Arizona
Where is this? Is the cost of living so low because you live in a town with 12 people and half of them die of heatstroke? Although with only a median rent of $925/month, I would ALMOST consider moving out to the desert and getting a pet cactus. Almost.
24. Chicago, Illinois
I can’t say I disagree, because who doesn’t love Chicago? Great food, great sports, great bars — what more does a millennial need to have an Instagram-worthy life? 19 percent of the city is composed of millennials, so your Tinder matches will be through the roof in this windy city.
23. Queens, New York
You get the proximity of the city with the dirty reputation that comes with Queens, but if you don’t care about what people think about you, Queens is a great place to be. The unemployment rate is a very low 5.9 percent, which is great, because you’ll need a bit of cash to pay the average rent of $1315 (LA residents, don’t hate me). I hear they have great brunch though, so it’s not all bad.
22. Rochester, Minnesota
If you’re ok with cold winters and horrible fucking accents, Rochester is the place for millennials to be. If that joyful description didn’t convince you (although I don’t see why not), maybe this will: there’s only an average rent price of $792/month. With all of my savings, I could buy a couple winter coats, an antidepressant prescription, and probably be pretty okay with this lifestyle.
21. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
It’s kinda cold and all of the men have dad bods, but if those are positives for you, you should probably move to Pittsburgh. There’s amazing food, world-renowned bars, great sports (with horrible fans), and did I mention there were some pretty great watering holes? Even better is that you can actually afford to live here – at a median rent of $767, you’ll actually be able to afford to see your friends more than once a quarter.
20. Santa Clara, California
Better bring a roommate along to help you afford the $1,609 rent, but to live in a sunny city where 18 percent of the population is ready to party with you may actually be worth it.
19. Bellevue, Washington
I’m assuming based completely off of incorrect stereotypes that your life here would consist of sitting in a local coffee shop wearing a rain coat, but if that appeals to you, check out this city on the water with only 4 percent unemployment. You’re almost guaranteed to get a job – even if it is at said coffeehouse.
18. Portland, Oregon
Is it Washington or Oregon with the terrible weather and the coffee shops? It doesn’t matter because they both sound like horrible places to live. If you like your weather sending you into a daily depression, get some latte art at a coffee shop in Portland with the other 20 percent of the millennial population on your way to work as a park ranger.
17. Madison, Wisconsin
What’s Wisconsin famous for? Cheese? If that wasn’t good enough, the perks are even better: you can live for around $900 with the other 20 percent of the population that’s composed of millennials. An almost guaranteed Tinder match over fondue – I honestly couldn’t imagine anything better if I tried.
16. Austin, Texas
A whopping 21.2 percent of Austin’s population is composed of millennials, and with a 3.2 percent millennial newcomer rate, that number keeps climbing. I hear there are delicious tacos, and if you don’t mind coughing up a bit for anti-frizz hairspray, you can live in this hippie capital for an easy $978 a month. Bonus: You may even run into a Grandexer on Dirty 6th, if you’re lucky.
15. Sunnyvale, California
I have no idea where this is, but just the name gives me the impression that the weather will work to your advantage if you move here. You’ll want to find one of the millennials making up 20.4 percent of the population to be your roomie though if you want to afford the $1,606/month rent. The good news is that the unemployment rate is only 5.5 percent, so chances are that you’ll be able to squeak by.
14. Brooklyn, NY
Want to live in the big apple without the embarrassment of Queens while saving money from a downtown apartment? Find some hipster friends and relocate to Brooklyn, where you can visit dive bars with 17.3 percent of the population, and then look fancy for work in Manhattan in the morning.
13. Ann Arbor, Michigan
Want to spend your days on a boat while snacking on soft shell crab? Can you tell I’ve never been to any of the places I’m analyzing here? Regardless, this place sounds like a Vineyard Vines paradise, and for a rent of $1,008/month, you can almost afford to shop there.
12. Minneapolis, Minnesota
I’ve already abused all the terrible Minnesota stereotypes in this article, so let’s get down to the nitty gritty here. $836 rent. Composed of 21.3 percent millennials, with 2.9 percent more filtering in. Unemployment rate of 6.9 percent. Move here if you enjoy the cold.
11. Denver, Colorado
I personally don’t prefer to be outdoors unless I’m on an excursion to the outlet mall, but for those of you who love the great, wild outdoors, I hear Denver is a dream come true. And hell, even I could find myself on a mountain filled with the joy of the great outdoors…. Okay, fine, the joy of only paying $883/month in rent.
10. New York, New York
You know the law: if Taylor Swift loves it, so must every other millennial. Live like Carrie Bradshaw except without the Manolo Blahniks -– you won’t be able to afford them with the $1,200 rent, but to live in the greatest city on earth? Worth it.
9. Boston, Massachusetts
3.6 percent of millennials are moving here, and for good reason. You get a gorgeous, old city with lots of history that’s grown to fit millennials with tons of food, bars, and sports that will keep you coming back for more. Sure, the rent is a little high ($1281), but to live in this city, it may just be worth it.
8. Berkeley, California
If moving to California is in the cards for you, you may want to check out Berkeley. Rent isn’t as high as you might expect ($1298), and you’ll be living with a millennial population of 17 percent that’s quickly growing with 4.3 percent of millennials moving in. It’s sunny, it’s rich, and (for California) actually affordable, so start packing your bags now.
7. Washington, D.C.
If you haven’t already ruined your political career for the sake of a few Twitter jokes, D.C. could be a good fit for you, albeit at the expense of your wallet. Even though you’ll be working like a dog, with 3.4 percent of millennials filtering in, at least you’ll have someone to go to happy hour with (even if happy hour happens at 9 PM).
6. Seattle, Washington
To land a solid tech job in a city with only a $1091 average rent, I’d say you scored big. The weather will probably suck, but if you’re in the tech industry, you probably have the money to save to gallivant off to the beach a few times a year.
5. Jersey City, New Jersey
If you enjoy being the scum of the earth, have fun living in Jersey. I almost hope an asteroid falls on this city so the 22.8 percent of millennials who live here will never have a chance to procreate. Moving on.
4. San Francisco, California
If you want the tech job without the depression of Seattle weather, Forbes says you should probably make the move to San Fran. Rent’s a pretty penny at $1488, but the unemployment rate is so low at 5.2 percent that you’ll almost definitely be able to afford it.
3. Alexandra, Virginia
With a whopping 24.4 percent of the population being millennials and an extremely low unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, I have no idea why everyone hasn’t already moved here.
2. Manhattan, New York
I’m not going to lie, this is 100 percent where I would live… if I had a trust fund and could afford to have a standing reservation at the Polo bar. But since I’m poor and would probably have to whore myself out to afford that $1442 rent, I’m going to have to pass. For those of you living the Gossip Girl life, know that I’m extremely jealous and hate you (just kidding, I love you. Invite me over).
1. Cambridge, Massachusetts
This home of Harvard pulls in at the number 1 spot with an insane 27.7 percent of the population being comprised of millennials and 6.9 percent more moving in. If you’re looking to meet people, finally get a Tinder match, and just have a great time with other people your age, move to Cambridge, because this place has it all.
[via Forbes]
Image via Shutterstock
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Steph W.
Steph W. is a new Master's degree graduate with an intern's salary and six-figure taste. She realizes her expectations far exceed reality, so she spends her days pinning away Loubs she pretends are in her physical closet instead of her virtual one. Her hobbies include attempting to trapping her boyfriend into marriage before he finds out how insane she is and pretending that Black Box wine tastes as good as the kind she could afford when she was gainfully employed. Send her tips for getting out of student debt at recruitchairtsm@gmail.com
@therecruitchair
You don’t know where Tempe is? “The Recruitment Chair” doesn’t know what city fratastic ASU is in…ok. Read a book, or a map…
Your ignorance of American cities and geography know how is an absolute disgrace.
Where the hell is the $836 rent coming from for Minneapolis? One bedrooms are at least $1500.
Wondering where these $1,500 apartments in SF are as well. I haven’t seen any studio under $2k, and that’s in the tenderloin.
If you’re paying $1,500 for anything less than a huge one bedroom downtown, or a *~luxury~* one bedroom in Uptown, then you’re doing Minneapolis wrong. The $836 average rent does sound low, but it’s probably taking into account the less popular neighborhoods that millenials aren’t living in. Young people here seem to only be attracted to a handful of the city’s neighborhoods.
St. Paul, bro, the dirty cousin.
Or I guess Twin… fuck.
“The Cousin Cities”
You have to go to St. Louis Park. $900 for a 2BR, far enough away from the hipsters of Uptown, but just 5 mins from downtown
Since when is St. Louis Park 5 min from downtown? Have you ever even driven on 394, bro?
I pay $950 for a 1 bedroom here. If you look outside of the new overpriced mega complexes, there are plenty of deals to be found.
You live in a tiny little shit hole
I paid $550 for a decent house with 3 guys in uptown – if you look, the places are there
This included New York New York, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. This list is trash simply for the geographic ignorance and redundancy.
Feel free to leave Forbes the same comment.
No knock on you because you obviously didn’t make the list, but New York, New York makes no sense when Manhattan is also on the list.
The only knock against Alexandria is that a lot of things you’re going to want to do are going to be in DC, and it’s not that much cheaper than DC to justify the 30+ minute ride on the Metro each way.
I dunno, Old Town is pretty awesome. King Street is gold for nightlife and you can’t beat Del Ray when it comes to restaurants. Plus, anyplace worth going in DC is a 15 minute Uber ride.
Er, you’re not getting to DC from Del Ray or Old Town in 15 minutes. I mean, yeah, maybe you can get across the bridge, but you’re definitely not at “anyplace worth going.”
Don’t get me wrong, I like Old Town. It has about as much going on in it as an average DC neighborhood. The only difference is that if I want to try somewhere new in DC, I just walk 5 minutes in any direction. For Old Town, you’re kinda just stuck there.
I think you forgot the “that you wish you could afford to live in” at the end of the title. That was nice of them to throw Jersey into the top 10 so that it wasn’t a complete wash.
Or you could move to Minneapolis if you enjoy having a job, but hey, you’re the expert
Yeah, but it’s just too cold. *looks outside and checks weather app* oh, 90 and sunny for the next 10 days. Brrr.
And on top of the MN accent “everyone” has? Hard pass
Well, she included the accent but left out the part about the millions of fucking hipster trash so I’d call it a wash.
No Charlotte or Atlanta?…pass
Minnesota has the best accent on earth, and that’s a fact. Also, the cold is not a worry in Minneapolis. Do you even skyway, bro?
Cambridge at number one is an absolute joke. We in Massachusetts refer to it as “seven square miles surrounded by reality.”
I can count on two hands the number of other cities which are superior options in metro Boston.