These are the best '18-hour cities' to start your US career
![Cyclists pass beneath the downtown skyline on the hike and bike trail on Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas September 18, 2012. The 10.1 mile trail runs along the Colorado river through downtown. In Austin, flip-flop-wearing University of Texas students mingle with coat-tie-and-boot-clad state lawmakers and technology workers in jeans. The Lone Star State capital prides itself on its slacker vibe, but it's also the place where a college student named Michael Dell once started a computer business and where Whole Foods Market started and has its headquarters. Picture taken September 18, 2012.](https://assets.weforum.org/article/image/large_S5XrJ1a6A4XDsATvQfLxP4Tp3YhiMQ1UM7xpEXo-WJE.jpg)
A new report identified the top 25 '18-hour cities' and then ranked the top 10 based on five factors. Image: REUTERS/Julia Robinson
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New York City and San Francisco aren't the only cities for recent grads to launch their careers.
There are plenty of other options that are more affordable without sacrificing opportunity. In fact, "18-hour cities" — cities that offer a similar lifestyle to a major city like New York but don't run on a 24/7 basis or have the same high costs — are emerging as hot spots.
"For millennials, 18-hour cities hold a lot of appeal," personal finance site Credit Sesame reports. "Their economies are typically expanding at a steady clip since it's less expensive for businesses to set up shop, which means there are lots of jobs to be had. Because they're secondary markets, rent prices in these cities aren't through the roof."
In a new report, Credit Sesame identified the top 25 18-hour cities and then ranked the top 10 based on five factors: median household income, median rent price, unemployment rate, average student-loan balance, and average credit-card balance.
Read on to see which 18-hour-cities cracked the top 10. We also included the median household income, the median rent for total households — the median rent is general and not specific to one- or two-bedroom apartments — and the unemployment rate, all of which Credit Sesame drew from the US Census Bureau.
10. Atlanta, Georgia
Median household income: $46,439
Median rent price: $969 per month
Unemployment rate: 12.9%
9. Charlotte, North Carolina
Median household income: $53,274
Median rent price: $902 per month
Unemployment rate: 10.8%
8. Portland, Oregon
Median household income: $53,230
Median rent price: $945 per month
Unemployment rate: 9.4%
7. Raleigh, North Carolina
Median household income: $54,581
Median rent price: $914 per month
Unemployment rate: 8.3%
6. Denver, Colorado
Median household income: $51,800
Median rent price: $913 per month
Unemployment rate: 7.8%
5. Nashville, Tennessee
Median household income: $46,758
Median rent price: $858 per month
Unemployment rate: 8.2%
4. Minneapolis, Minnesota
Median household income: $50,767
Median rent price: $854 per month
Unemployment rate: 9%
3. Austin, Texas
Median household income: $55,216
Median rent price: $1,012 per month
Unemployment rate: 6.8%
2. Dallas, Texas
Median household income: $43,359
Median rent price: $852 per month
Unemployment rate: 8.9%
1. Seattle, Washington
Median household income: $67,365
Median rent price: $1,131 per month
Unemployment rate: 6.5%
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