What states offer the most to Millennials looking for a new home? You probably think of New York or California, right?
Well, a new report from financial Web site MoneyRates.com found that many of the best states for Millennials in which to live are in the Midwest. And the best state of all for these young adults? MoneyRates cited North Dakota, certainly a surprising result.
To determine which states are the best fit for Millennials, MoneyRates.com considered eight different factors. The first, not surprisingly, is the strength of the jobs market for young adults. The site, though, also looked at how expensive college tuitions are, the number of apartments available for rent and how high these rents are, access to high-speed broadband Internet, the concentration of bars in the area and the concentration of physical fitness centers in a state.
North Dakota ranked high in several of these categories. MoneyRates.com also found that the state had the second-highest population of people from the sages of 20 to 24. The jobs market is especially strong here for Millennials, with the unemployment rate for people from the ages of 20 to 24 hovering at just 5.3 percent. That figure is a far higher 8.1 percent on average in the rest of the country.
South Dakota came in second on the MoneyRates study, giving the Dakotas a sweep of the top two spots. South Dakota ranks first in the nation in the affordability of multifamily rental rates, an important factor for Millennials.
Nebraska ranked third in the MoneyRates.com study, thanks mostly to its affordable apartment rents and strong jobs market for young adults.
Other Midwest states on the list include sixth-place Iowa, which also has affordable apartment rent and a surprisingly high number of bars, and seventh-place Kansas, which makes the list because of its availability of high-speed Internet access and the high number of apartment rentals available to young people.
Wisconsin tied with Kansas for seventh on the list, and ranks particularly high in the number of jobs available for young people. Coming in at 10th, is Indiana, which offers plenty of affordable apartment rentals for Millennials. MoneyRates.com ranked Indiana high, too, for access to high-speed broadband Internet service.
