America’s most famous city is ranked WORST for college graduate starting their career

New college graduates hoping to move to New York City to kickstart their career may be in for an unfortunate surprise. 

A study released by WalletHub earlier this week has named the Big Apple as the worst city to live in for those seeking entry-level jobs and affordable housing. 

The study compared the professional opportunities and quality of life provided in over 180 cities in the US, including the 150 most populated cities in the country and at least two of the most populated cities in each of the 50 states. 

The two primary factors were then examined using 26 key metrics, ranging from availability of entry-level jobs to the average monthly starting salary and housing affordability. 

According to the study’s findings, New York City took the 182nd place after scoring the lowest on all of the 26 metrics – a mere 33.14. 

The ‘City of Dreams’ where stars such as Frank Sinatra and Jay-Z made it big has now been deemed as the place with the lowest number of entry-level jobs per 100,000 professionals aged 16 and up in 2024. 

New York has also been named as the worst place to find affordable housing in the country. 

Although, The Big Apple was able to redeem itself by a few places after it ranked 171 for quality of life. 

The unemployment rate for New York City was 5.4 per cent in December 2023, up 0.1 of a per cent from November and an increase of 0.3 per cent from December 2022

The ranking comes three months after a 26-year-old from Brooklyn went viral for telling her TikTok followers that despite having two degrees and speaking three languages, she still could not find a minimum wage job in the city. 

Lohanny Santos uploaded a video of herself crying while holding a stack of resumes to TikTok.

‘This is the most humbled I’ve ever felt in my life,’ she said and told viewers she was trying to meet potential employers in person asking for a job – but this has been unsuccessful so far.

She added: ‘It’s honestly a little bit embarrassing because I’m literally applying for minimum wage jobs and some of them are being like “we’re not hiring” […] This is not what I expected.’ 

Santos, who graduated from Pace University with a degree in communications and one in acting, said she speaks three languages and seems devastated after she was unable to find a minimum wage job, which would pay her $16 per hour in New York.

Lohanny Santos (pictured), 26, from Brooklyn, uploaded a video of herself crying while holding a stack of resumes to TikTok

‘This sucks,’ she added as she wiped away the tears rolling down her face. ‘I just want to be a TikToker if I’m being so for real with you but I can’t be delusional anymore… Like I literally need to make money, so I’m just going to keep trying.’

Santos said she went into several coffee shops to hand them her resume – just like she did when she was 16 and was looking for a job. 

The one job Santos said she actually got, which was at a coffee shop, would have required her to do 18 hours of unpaid training

Santos, who said she was raised between Brazil and New Jersey, is not the only one unable to find a job in New York right now, as data by the New York State department of Labor reveals that unemployment is on the rise.

The unemployment rate for New York City was 5.4 per cent in December 2023, up 0.1 of a per cent from November and an increase of 0.3 per cent from December 2022. New York State’s rate was 4.5 percent in December 2023. 

In May 2023, it was revealed that New York rents surged to new record highs, with the median price of an apartment in Manhattan climbing to an eye-watering $4,241.

Median rents on new leases in Manhattan, Brooklyn and northwest Queens broke records in April, as people flocked back to the city in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A property report, by appraiser Miller Samuel and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate, confirms what many New Yorkers have been complaining about on social media for weeks: that rents are ‘too damn high.’

The typical Manhattan apartment was 8.1 percent more expensive in 2023 than in 2022, according to the report.

The typical Manhattan apartment was 8.1 percent more expensive in 2023 than in 2022

The median Brooklyn rent of $3,500 was up almost 15 percent against last year, researchers said.

The median in the section of Queens that includes Astoria and Long Island City rose nearly 13 percent from a year earlier to $3,525.

WalletHub’s 2024 study rankings were determined with help of data collected from the US Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Indeed.com and Glassdoor. 

The study has named Atlanta, Georgia as the number one city to live and work in, with a score of 65.84, closely followed by Orlando, Florida scoring 65.02 and Salt Lake City, Utah scoring 62.38.