{"h1":"Best college towns for junior jobs in the Pacific Northwest","faq":[{"a":"Salem leads the Pacific Northwest for junior jobs: 39% of its professional openings are entry-level or early-career, against 26% across all cities in our data.","q":"Which city ranks first: best college towns for junior jobs in the pacific northwest?"},{"a":"13 cities have at least 100 openings, so the list has 13 entries.","q":"How many cities are ranked?"},{"a":"A city's score is the share of its open professional roles tagged entry-level or early-career, read from the full posting text. Only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted. Internships are left out. 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. Only cities that have a college or university in the Department of Education directory are ranked.","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":"Salem leads the Pacific Northwest for junior jobs: 39% of its professional openings are entry-level or early-career, against 26% across all cities in our data.","minN":100,"rows":[{"n":119,"bar":1,"key":"OR|salem","sub":"OR","href":"/places/oregon/city/salem","name":"Salem","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"47"},{"label":"All openings","value":"119"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"28%"}],"value":0.3949579831932773,"change":null,"employers":["Agility Robotics","Garmin","Northwest Human Services"],"valueLabel":"39%"},{"n":110,"bar":0.9206963249516441,"key":"OR|eugene","sub":"OR","href":"/places/oregon/city/eugene","name":"Eugene","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"40"},{"label":"All openings","value":"110"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"9%"}],"value":0.3636363636363636,"change":null,"employers":["University of Oregon","Sinclair"],"valueLabel":"36%"},{"n":120,"bar":0.9072695035460994,"key":"WA|tacoma","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/tacoma","name":"Tacoma","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"43"},{"label":"All openings","value":"120"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"20%"}],"value":0.3583333333333333,"change":null,"employers":["Globe Main","TOTE Maritime"],"valueLabel":"36%"},{"n":1147,"bar":0.8829694485150903,"key":"WA|redmond","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/redmond","name":"Redmond","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"400"},{"label":"All openings","value":"1,147"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"15%"}],"value":0.3487358326068004,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","SpaceX","Microsoft"],"valueLabel":"35%"},{"n":792,"bar":0.7384751773049646,"key":"OR|portland","sub":"OR","href":"/places/oregon/city/portland","name":"Portland","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"231"},{"label":"All openings","value":"792"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"14%"}],"value":0.2916666666666667,"change":null,"employers":["Oregon Health & Science University","Legacy Health","Keen Footwear"],"valueLabel":"29%"},{"n":141,"bar":0.7362305719028217,"key":"WA|spokane","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/spokane","name":"Spokane","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"41"},{"label":"All openings","value":"141"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"18%"}],"value":0.2907801418439716,"change":null,"employers":["McKinstry","BDO USA"],"valueLabel":"29%"},{"n":130,"bar":0.7206219312602291,"key":"WA|renton","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/renton","name":"Renton","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"37"},{"label":"All openings","value":"130"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"40%"}],"value":0.2846153846153846,"change":null,"employers":["Hasbro","Providence Health & Services Washington","Michels"],"valueLabel":"28%"},{"n":155,"bar":0.7187371310912835,"key":"WA|vancouver","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/vancouver","name":"Vancouver","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"44"},{"label":"All openings","value":"155"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"17%"}],"value":0.2838709677419355,"change":null,"employers":["HP","ZoomInfo","Ecolab USA"],"valueLabel":"28%"},{"n":158,"bar":0.6409911123081067,"key":"WA|kirkland","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/kirkland","name":"Kirkland","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"40"},{"label":"All openings","value":"158"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"41%"}],"value":0.2531645569620253,"change":null,"employers":["Echodyne","Amazon","Google"],"valueLabel":"25%"},{"n":186,"bar":0.6261725005719515,"key":"WA|everett","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/everett","name":"Everett","rank":10,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"46"},{"label":"All openings","value":"186"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"34%"}],"value":0.2473118279569892,"change":null,"employers":["Helion Energy","Fortive","TerraPower"],"valueLabel":"25%"},{"n":5343,"bar":0.5762321749276246,"key":"WA|seattle","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/seattle","name":"Seattle","rank":11,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"1,216"},{"label":"All openings","value":"5,343"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"18%"}],"value":0.2275874976604904,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Blue Origin","Shield AI"],"valueLabel":"23%"},{"n":131,"bar":0.5411726490173786,"key":"WA|bothell","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/bothell","name":"Bothell","rank":12,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"28"},{"label":"All openings","value":"131"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"28%"}],"value":0.2137404580152672,"change":null,"employers":["Verathon","IonQ","Koninklijke Philips"],"valueLabel":"21%"},{"n":1396,"bar":0.4860696214107176,"key":"WA|bellevue","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/bellevue","name":"Bellevue","rank":13,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"268"},{"label":"All openings","value":"1,396"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"18%"}],"value":0.1919770773638969,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","TerraPower","Okta"],"valueLabel":"19%"}],"slug":"best-college-towns-for-junior-jobs-in-the-pacific-northwest","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"pacific-northwest","kind":"region","name":"Pacific Northwest"},"title":"Best college towns for junior jobs in the Pacific Northwest","family":"Higher education","method":["A city's score is the share of its open professional roles tagged entry-level or early-career, read from the full posting text.","Only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted. Internships are left out.","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.","Only cities that have a college or university in the Department of Education directory are ranked."],"builtAt":"2026-11-03T03:37:23.486Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"junior","sources":["NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week"],"baseline":{"label":"all cities in our data","valueLabel":"26%"},"keyFacts":["#1 Salem, OR: 39%","#2 Eugene, OR: 36%","#3 Tacoma, WA: 36%","13 cities ranked in the Pacific Northwest","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["The top ten is tightly packed: Salem leads on 39%, and #10 Everett is at 25%.","Redmond is the largest market in the top ten, with 1,147 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-college-towns-for-junior-jobs-in-the-pacific-northwest"}