{"id":56,"date":"2026-05-12T18:05:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=56"},"modified":"2026-05-12T18:05:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:05:27","slug":"2-phoenix-suburbs-ranked-among-best-u-s-cities-to-begin-a-career-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=56","title":{"rendered":"2 Phoenix suburbs ranked among best U.S. cities to begin a career"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

That first job out of college can really make or break your professional and adult life. Pick a city that doesn\u2019t have many entry-level roles, and you might be miserably job hunting for months. Find a position in a city with a high cost of living, and your fun new paycheck might not feel so fun after most of it goes toward rent.<\/p>\n

Read more State lawmakers are off until June. They\u2019ll make $200K anyway<\/a><\/p>\n

But there\u2019s some good news for the newest batch of Arizona State University graduates: If they want to stay in the Valley for their first job, it might not be a bad idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eight cities in the Valley were ranked among financial site WalletHub\u2019s 2026 list of Best and Worst Places to Start a Career. Scottsdale ranked first in the state, with Tempe close behind it. Phoenix came in third. (Not in the Valley but still in-state, Tucson ranked 101st out of 183 cities nationally, or eighth out of nine Arizona locales.)<\/p>\n

WalletHub analyzed 25 metrics for 183 cities in the country. This included the top 150 most populous cities as well as the two most populous cities in each state. The metrics added up to 100 points and were categorized as \u201cprofessional opportunities\u201d and \u201cquality of life.\u201d For \u201cprofessional opportunities,\u201d the financial site analyzed data about the availability of entry-level jobs, unemployment rate, the availability of career counselors and more. For \u201cQuality of life,\u201d WalletHub analyzed data about housing affordability, average commute time, number of adults with at least a bachelor\u2019s degree aged 25 and older, among other factors.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the Valley\u2019s cities stack up against each other and in the nation for places to start a career.<\/p>\n

\n

1.\u00a0 Peoria<\/strong><\/h2>\n

National rank: 144th
Overall score: 42.97
Professional opportunities rank: 141
Quality of life rank: 122<\/p>\n

This West Valley suburb ranked last in the state for places to start a career. Some of its major industries are healthcare, advanced manufacturing and semiconductors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

7. Glendale\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

National rank: 96th
Overall score: 47.49
Professional opportunities rank: 70
Quality of life rank: 125<\/p>\n

Like its neighbor Peoria, Glendale offers many jobs in healthcare and manufacturing, but it also has a thriving aerospace, aviation and defense industry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

6. Gilbert<\/strong><\/h2>\n

National rank: 80th
Overall score: 49.43
Professional opportunities rank: 87
Quality of life rank: 67<\/p>\n

The biggest private employers in this southeastern Phoenix suburb include Deloitte, Morgan Stanley and Anthropologie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Donald Trump prepares to ship Kari Lake out of the country<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

5. Mesa\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

National rank: 79th
Overall score: 49.5
Professional opportunities rank: 76
Quality of life rank: 78<\/p>\n

Many of Mesa\u2019s biggest employers are in education, healthcare and government, but there are jobs in aerospace and defense, automotive, and semiconductors as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

4. Chandler<\/strong><\/h2>\n

National rank: 39th
Overall score: 54.27
Professional opportunities rank: 59
Quality of life rank: 23<\/p>\n

This southeastern suburb boasts many of the same industries as other cities in the Valley, but it also has a robust self-driving cars industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

3. Phoenix\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

National rank: 31st
Overall score: 55.51
Professional opportunities rank: 35
Quality of life rank: 40<\/p>\n

Jobs in healthcare, retail and finance dominate Arizona\u2019s capital city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2. Tempe<\/strong><\/h2>\n

National rank: 26th
Overall score: 56.64
Professional opportunities rank: 69
Quality of life rank: 4<\/p>\n

In addition to being the home of ASU\u2019s mothership, and therefore the source of lots of jobs in education, Tempe also houses companies that work in aerospace and defense, manufacturing and semiconductors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1. Scottsdale\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

National rank: 23rd
Overall score: 57.31
Professional opportunities rank: 37
Quality of life rank: 16<\/p>\n

Healthcare, financial services and technology are just a few of the biggest industries in Scottsdale.<\/p>\n

Read more Andy Biggs put out two new campaign ads. We fact-checked them<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scottsdale, Tempe and Phoenix each ranked highly on a list of cities that make good spots for someone to start a career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n2 Phoenix suburbs ranked among best U.S. cities to begin a career - Phoenix Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=56\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2 Phoenix suburbs ranked among best U.S. cities to begin a career - Phoenix Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scottsdale, Tempe and Phoenix each ranked highly on a list of cities that make good spots for someone to start a career.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=56\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Phoenix Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-12T18:05:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/35c6cc8521272cadee8e48a6c308e44f-scaled.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=56#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=56\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b18a6d477e57bdeec7b4b61a70eace7b\"},\"headline\":\"2 Phoenix suburbs ranked among best U.S. cities to begin a career\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-12T18:05:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=56\"},\"wordCount\":591,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=56#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/35c6cc8521272cadee8e48a6c308e44f-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=56#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=56\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=56\",\"name\":\"2 Phoenix suburbs ranked among best U.S. cities to begin a career - 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