Birmingham tops best college grad job market in U.S. list

The Birmingham-metro area ranked No. 1 in the third annual best U.S. metro areas for new college grads by ADP Research. 

The Magic City overtook Raleigh, North Carolina which had held the top spot for the past two years.

ADP compared Birmingham with 53 U.S. metro areas

ADP, the nation’s largest payroll company, conducted the ranking using payroll data from more than 409,000 people aged 20 to 29 at more than 20,000 U.S. employers. They then ranked 53 U.S. metro areas with at least one million residents (Bham/Hoover MSA has 1.2 million) based on the following categories: 

• Wages
• Hiring
• Cost of living

How did Birmingham move up to the top spot?

Last year, Birmingham ranked fifth nationally. Here is why The Magic City jumped to the top of the list, according to ADP Research:

“Greater Birmingham’s rise was driven by strong hiring and rapid wage growth. Between January 2025 and January 2026, the metro posted a strong 2.8 percent hiring rate, and median annual wages for recent graduates jumped more than 16 percent to $59,004. The region was more affordable than all but two of the metros we studied.”

Here are the top 10 metro areas on the list:

1. Birmingham – Hoover
2. Tampa-St. Petersburg
3. San Jose – Santa Clara
4. Columbus, OH
5. Raleigh, NC
6. Tulsa, OK
7. San Francisco – Oakland
8. Nashville, TN
9. Charlotte, NC
10. New York-Newark

Birmingham is on a roll

The Birmingham Business Alliance’s vice president of economic development Trevor Sutton identified several reasons why The Magic City is looking good for college grads.

• A significant bioscience sector anchored by UAB
• Large employers in the automotive + advanced materials industries
• Demand for engineers at companies like the Southern Company (Alabama Power) and Quanta Power Solutions due to those advanced materials industries

In addition to looking good on the jobs front, Birmingham also ranked the 6th best place to live in the U.S. by Livability, the national lifestyle company.