{"h1":"Best all-round cities for new graduates in the West Coast","faq":[{"a":"Redmond is the best all-round city for new graduates in the West Coast, with a score of 81 / 100.","q":"Which city ranks first: best all-round cities for new graduates in the west coast?"},{"a":"36 cities have at least 100 openings, so the list has 36 entries.","q":"How many cities are ranked?"},{"a":"A city's score is the weighted average of its percentile rank on each measure among the ranked cities (100 is first, 0 is last): entry-level share of openings 40%, pay after cost of living 25%, entry-level openings 20%, openings with pay posted 15%. A score of 100 would mean first on every measure and 50 is the middle of the pack. The measures and weights are fixed in advance and shown here; they are a judgment about what matters to this reader, so use the single-measure rankings when one thing matters most. Only cities with enough openings and pay data are ranked. A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"Redmond is the best all-round city for new graduates in the West Coast, with a score of 81 / 100.","minN":100,"rows":[{"n":1147,"bar":1,"key":"WA|redmond","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/redmond","name":"Redmond","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"35%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$195k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"400"}],"value":80.57142857142857,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","SpaceX","Microsoft"],"valueLabel":"81 / 100"},{"n":840,"bar":0.8528368794326241,"key":"CA|long beach","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/long-beach","name":"Long Beach","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"32%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$140k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"271"}],"value":68.71428571428571,"change":null,"employers":["Relativity Space","Rocket 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100"},{"n":735,"bar":0.7872340425531915,"key":"CA|torrance","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/torrance","name":"Torrance","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"26%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$150k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"194"}],"value":63.42857142857143,"change":null,"employers":["Divergent Technologies","Valar Atomics","Neros"],"valueLabel":"63 / 100"},{"n":1364,"bar":0.7553191489361702,"key":"CA|sacramento","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/sacramento","name":"Sacramento","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"33%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$127k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"456"}],"value":60.85714285714285,"change":null,"employers":["Sutter Health","California Correctional Health Care Services","Nalu Medical"],"valueLabel":"61 / 100"},{"n":949,"bar":0.7482269503546101,"key":"CA|el 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100"},{"n":1556,"bar":0.7163120567375886,"key":"CA|sunnyvale","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/sunnyvale","name":"Sunnyvale","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"21%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$190k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"323"}],"value":57.71428571428571,"change":null,"employers":["Applied Intuition","Wayve","Amazon"],"valueLabel":"58 / 100"},{"n":130,"bar":0.6684397163120567,"key":"CA|newark","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/newark","name":"Newark","rank":10,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"25%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$155k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"33"}],"value":53.85714285714285,"change":null,"employers":["Lucid Motors","Applied Industrial Technologies","Stratus Technologies"],"valueLabel":"54 / 100"},{"n":1503,"bar":0.6648936170212766,"key":"CA|irvine","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/irvine","name":"Irvine","rank":11,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"25%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$140k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"381"}],"value":53.57142857142857,"change":null,"employers":["Anduril Industries","Field AI","Rivian Automotive"],"valueLabel":"54 / 100"},{"n":5343,"bar":0.6631205673758866,"key":"WA|seattle","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/seattle","name":"Seattle","rank":12,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"23%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$162k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"1,216"}],"value":53.42857142857144,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Blue Origin","Shield AI"],"valueLabel":"53 / 100"},{"n":1237,"bar":0.6613475177304965,"key":"CA|palo alto","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/palo-alto","name":"Palo 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100"},{"n":2379,"bar":0.6276595744680852,"key":"CA|san jose","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-jose","name":"San Jose","rank":18,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"20%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$180k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"486"}],"value":50.57142857142858,"change":null,"employers":["Super Micro Computer","Advanced Micro Devices","Cisco Systems"],"valueLabel":"51 / 100"},{"n":130,"bar":0.6276595744680852,"key":"WA|renton","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/renton","name":"Renton","rank":19,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"28%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$144k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"37"}],"value":50.57142857142858,"change":null,"employers":["Hasbro","Providence Health & Services Washington","Michels"],"valueLabel":"51 / 100"},{"n":210,"bar":0.625886524822695,"key":"CA|san carlos","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-carlos","name":"San Carlos","rank":20,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"22%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$176k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"46"}],"value":50.42857142857143,"change":null,"employers":["1X Technologies","Joby Aviation","Natera"],"valueLabel":"50 / 100"},{"n":189,"bar":0.6223404255319148,"key":"CA|alameda","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/alameda","name":"Alameda","rank":21,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"24%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$171k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"45"}],"value":50.14285714285714,"change":null,"employers":["Saildrone","Penumbra","Kairos Power"],"valueLabel":"50 / 100"},{"n":158,"bar":0.6205673758865249,"key":"WA|kirkland","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/kirkland","name":"Kirkland","rank":22,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of 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University","Legacy Health","Keen Footwear"],"valueLabel":"47 / 100"},{"n":1530,"bar":0.5815602836879432,"key":"CA|santa clara","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/santa-clara","name":"Santa Clara","rank":25,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"17%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$188k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"262"}],"value":46.85714285714285,"change":null,"employers":["Pure Storage","Advanced Micro Devices","Amazon"],"valueLabel":"47 / 100"},{"n":3085,"bar":0.5496453900709221,"key":"CA|san diego","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-diego","name":"San Diego","rank":26,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"24%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$134k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"742"}],"value":44.28571428571429,"change":null,"employers":["Qualcomm Inc/De","Qualcomm Technologies","General Atomics"],"valueLabel":"44 / 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openings","value":"57"}],"value":26.71428571428572,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Snap","FIGS"],"valueLabel":"27 / 100"},{"n":238,"bar":0.2553191489361702,"key":"CA|berkeley","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/berkeley","name":"Berkeley","rank":36,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level share of openings","value":"15%"},{"label":"Pay after cost of living","value":"$144k"},{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"35"}],"value":20.57142857142857,"change":null,"employers":["Form Energy","University of California, Berkeley","Rigetti Computing"],"valueLabel":"21 / 100"}],"slug":"best-all-round-cities-for-new-graduates-in-the-west-coast","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"west-coast","kind":"region","name":"West Coast"},"title":"Best all-round cities for new graduates in the West Coast","family":"Best overall","method":["A city's score is the weighted average of its percentile rank on each measure among the ranked cities (100 is first, 0 is last): entry-level share of openings 40%, pay after cost of living 25%, entry-level openings 20%, openings with pay posted 15%.","A score of 100 would mean first on every measure and 50 is the middle of the pack. The measures and weights are fixed in advance and shown here; they are a judgment about what matters to this reader, so use the single-measure rankings when one thing matters most.","Only cities with enough openings and pay data are ranked.","A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score."],"builtAt":"2026-11-03T03:50:28.595Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"cgrad","sources":["NextChapter job data: open professional roles and posted pay","Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities 2024"],"baseline":null,"keyFacts":["#1 Redmond, WA: 81 / 100","#2 Long Beach, CA: 69 / 100","#3 Santa Ana, CA: 68 / 100","36 cities ranked in the West Coast","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["The top ten is tightly packed: Redmond leads on 81 / 100, and #10 Newark is at 54 / 100.","Newark reaches #10 on a sample of 130 openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.","San Francisco is the largest market in the top ten, with 11,798 openings behind its figure.","Cities with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful."],"license":"Free to use and share with a link to https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-all-round-cities-for-new-graduates-in-the-west-coast"}