If you’re a recent graduate or a young professional eager to kickstart your career, Tennessee might just be the right spot! According to WalletHub’s study of the Best & Worst Places to Start a Career in 2025, two Volunteer State cities are ranked in the top 25 best places to start a career. Let’s take a look at what makes these cities stand out.
They looked at over 180 cities across the U.S. to see which ones offer the best mix of job opportunities and overall quality of life. The team compared things like how many entry-level jobs are out there, what kind of starting salary you can expect, and how affordable housing is – a total of 25 key factors – to help you find the right place to launch your next chapter.
The best cities for starting a career not only have a lot of job opportunities but also provide substantial income growth potential and satisfying work conditions. It’s also important to consider factors such as how fun a city is to live in or how good of a place it is for raising a family, to ensure life satisfaction outside of your career.
Two Tennessee Cities Are Among the Best Places to Start a Career
According to this study, the best Tennessee city to start a career in is Knoxville, which ranked #19 on the list. The second-highest city in the Volunteer State is Chattanooga, which barely cracks the top 25 at #24…