Survey: D.C. #2 In U.S., Best Market For Young Adults

New survey results released today ranks D.C. number two in the nation as the best market in the country for young adults. The ranking is the latest installment of Portfolio.com’s U.S. Uncovered series – a monthly collection of U.S. lifestyle trends. Austin, Texas takes the top spot, and the Southwest region was named best region.

"Entrepreneurs looking to jump-start their business and marketers looking for the disposable income of this crucial demographic now know where to focus," said J. Jennings Moss, editor of Portfolio.com.

"The Southwest is making headway in attracting younger crowds and re-establishing itself as a destination for those in their 20s and 30s looking for opportunities during the recession," said Moss.

Behind Austin and D.C. at the top of the list: Raleigh, Boston, Houston and Oklahoma City. Detroit, with a loss of 343,700 jobs in the past five years, sits at the bottom of the ranking, along with two Midwest industrial and two Sun belt metros: Cleveland, Dayton, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Riverside-San Bernadino.

Businesses looking for where the most affluent young Americans will do well to focus on the coasts, according to the Portfolio.com analysis. Metropolitan areas where more than one-third of households under age 45 have incomes of $100,000 or more are led by San Francisco Bay-area metros, while the Northeast Corridor is also well-represented.

For the "Best Markets for Young Adults" survey, Portfolio.com analyzed 67 U.S. metros with populations above 750,000 that offered the best opportunities for workers in their 20s and early 30s. A 10-part formula looked at strong growth rates, moderate costs of living, and substantial pools of young adults who are college-educated and employed.