Summer isn’t just a season of daily walks on the beach or picnics at the park. For some people, especially young adults, the warmer months are a time to gain extra spending money or work experience.
But whether you need or want a summer job, where you look for one will matter almost as much as what you do. Obviously, opportunities will be more widely available in some places than in others. And while a job may pay well in one city, the same position may not pay as much in another. Minimum-wage laws and local costs, for instance, will determine how much you earn and consequently what you’ll be able to afford in terms of housing, transportation and social activities. More importantly, if you’re supporting yourself, location will dictate how much of your income you’ll be able to save if that’s your goal.
With summer-job seekers in mind, WalletHub compared the relative strength of more than 180 markets in the U.S. across 21 key indicators of employment outlook, affordability and downtime-friendliness. Our data set ranges from median income of part-time workers to availability of summer jobs to rental price for a one-bedroom property. Read on for the complete ranking, job-hunting advice from a panel of experts and a full description of our methodology.
