Forget San Francisco and New York — here are 25 US cities where 20-somethings can afford to work and live by Alex Mahadevan on Jul 31, 2017, 2:43 PM  Forget San Francisco, Washington D.C., and New York City.
This is a list for the rest of us twenty-and-thirtysomethings who can't afford to spend $2,500 to live in a closet in Bushwick. The Penny Hoarder has developed a definitive list of the top 25 coolest and most affordable cities for millennials. It's based on a rigorous analysis of housing and local price data, economic statistics, and something called a Coffee Fanatic Score. Yes, you read that right. (Thanks SmartAsset!) You probably haven't seen many of these cities on "Top Millennial City" lists before, and that's for good reason. These are cities where young people crippled with student loan debt can actually find work and afford a one-bedroom apartment, but also find a new brewery or wine bar on weekends. Their millennial populations are growing — or already sizable — and they tend to be better for walking or biking to work. SEE ALSO: I studied millionaires for 5 years and found people who got rich working for someone else scored promotions and raises by following 6 rules Methodology First, while we know that millennials like to stay ahead of the curve, they also like to be in with the cool crowd. Regardless of how cheap a city is to live in, if there aren't a good amount of young people there — or on the move there — we don't want to live there. "Community" was a word that came up a lot during research, meaning us avocado-toast-eating, Chili's-and-Applebee's-killing youngsters want to be with our peers. So, we looked at every county* in the U.S. and found the total and average annual change in the share of 25- to 34-year-olds in the county's population from 2011 to 2015, along with the current share of that age group. We assigned each of those variables a standardized score and ranked the average. We only included counties with populations greater than 70,000, then chose the top 200 counties as a starting point. Now came the real rigorous math-y stuff. To spare you having to spend the rest of the week uncrossing your eyes, here's a basic rundown of what we considered in the analysis: • The average change and total change in unemployment rate from 2011 to 2015 • Regional prices, rent and how each city stacked up its state median income • Millennial happiness: The average and total change in the share of 25- to-34-year- olds in each population from 2011 to 2015, walkability (courtesy of Walk Score) and the top 100 cities for coffee fanatics (courtesy of SmartAsset) Then, The Penny Hoarder staff chose the top 25 based on affordability and if we would actually live there. Those 25 cities received a Millennial Happiness Rank, Affordability Rank and Economy Health Rank, based on another analysis using the same factors from above. And there you have it! *Counties were used as a starting point to capture suburbs around city centers. It also allowed us to match up unemployment rates with each region.
#25 Salt Lake City Affordability Rank: 20 Millennial Happiness Rank: 19 Economy Health Rank: 20 Things to do: The Sugar House District is the young hip place to be in Salt Lake City, with everything from brew pubs (yeah, even in Salt Lake City) to record stores. Or you can go shopping at The City Creek Center, then sit down for a bite to eat and some local brew at Squatters. You could also indulge in some authentic Mexican cuisine (and apparently killer margaritas) at the Red Iguana.
#24 — Rochester, Minnesota  Affordability Rank: 10 Millennial Happiness Rank: 25 Economy Health Rank: 22 Things to do: Get your daily dose of caffeine with locally sourced coffee and tea at Kutzky Market, then grab a beer and pizza for lunch from Forager Brewery. For a fancier feel, sip on a custom cocktails at The Doggery — a Prohibition-era speakeasy (no, sadly, I don't think dogs are allowed). For some exercise, travel along the 12.5-mile Douglas Trail and enjoy the "rural scenery, traversing some of the richest agricultural land in Minnesota."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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