10 cities with the most entry-level jobs that pay a living wage
40% of entry-level jobs in the U.S. don’t meet the living wage for their areas
It’s tough out there for people entering the job market for the first time.
More than 400,000 federal employees were furloughed or laid off this spring amid DOGE cuts. Corporate layoffs, driven partly by companies “rightsizing” in an AI-dominated economy, have hit sectors from tech to finance. And the gig economy is even showing signs of strain, with food delivery orders slowing.
That’s left a glut of overqualified workers competing for jobs that otherwise might have gone to recent graduates.
And then comes the question of wages, which have stagnated and, in some cases, fallen in the past year when adjusted for inflation.
A new study from NetCredit, an online lender, employed MIT’s Living Wage Calculator to look at wages across the country. Crossreferencing the MIT data with job posting from Indeed, it found that over 40% of entry-level jobs in the U.S. don’t meet the living wage for their areas.
But some cities offer better conditions than others. Keep reading to see the 10 cities NetCredit (ENVA) identified that offer the most entry-level jobs that exceed a living wage.
Additional reporting by Catherine Baab.
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#10: Charleston, West Virginia
Seventy-eight percent of entry-level job openings in Charleston, West Virginia exceed the local living wage.
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#9: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Seventy-nine percent of entry-level job openings in Winston-Salem, North Carolina exceed the local living wage.
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#8: Cheyenne, Wyoming
Eighty-one percent of entry-level job openings in Cheyenne, Wyoming exceed the local living wage.
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#7: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Eighty-three percent of entry-level job openings in Minneapolis, Minnesota exceed the local living wage.
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#6: Spokane, Washington
Eighty-four percent of entry-level job openings in Spokane, Washington exceed the local living wage.
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#5: Detroit, Michigan
Eighty-five percent of entry-level job openings in Detroit, Michigan exceed the local living wage.
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#4: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Eighty-seven percent of entry-level job openings in Sioux Falls, South Dakota exceed the local living wage.
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#3: Toledo, Ohio
Ninety-three percent of entry-level job openings in Toledo, Ohio exceed the local living wage.
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#2: Fargo, North Dakota
Ninety-four percent of entry-level job openings in Fargo, North Dakota exceed the local living wage.
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#1: Bakersfield, California
One-hundred percent of entry-level job openings in Bakersfield, California exceed the local living wage.