Austin Ranks Top 3 City for Starting a Career

Austin's ability to attract people at the beginning of their careers is strengthening one of the city's most important economic assets: its long-term talent pipeline.

The numbers:

• No. 3 nationally among 182 U.S. cities
• Up from No. 5 nationally last year
• No. 1 city in Texas for starting a career
• No. 1 nationally for quality of life
• No. 10 for professional opportunities
• No. 1 for average starting salaries after adjusting for cost of living
• No. 15 for entry-level jobs per capita

The WalletHub rankings point towards Austin being one of the country's strongest magnets for early-career talent. For local companies, that means a deep hiring pool. For the broader economy, it means more young workers earning, spending, building professional networks, and potentially launching companies of their own.