Austin-Round Rock makes Top 5 in List of Best Places for Millennials

A recent study by Payscale, an online compensation analysis service, assessed which cities were the best for millennials just starting out in the workforce. The Austin-Round Rock metro made number four on the list, beating out other high-profile real estate areas like the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA area and Boston-Quincy, Mass. metro.

A report by the National Association of Realtors, or NAR, explained that PayScale analyzed data from 650,000 surveys filled out over the last two years by millennials, and weighed factors like compensation, benefits, length of commute, overall job satisfaction, job stress, and opportunities to grow with the company.

Additionally, Payscale analyzed each real estate metro area for its Gen Y population to assess the likelihood that adults from the millennial age group would live in each area. The study authors also considered which areas offered popular millennial job perks including flexible work hours, a casual dress code, extra learning opportunities, the option to work from home, pets at work, free snacks, and a gym in the building.

These are the top 10 places for millennials and the median Gen Y salary:

1. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash (Median Gen Y pay: $55,500)

2. San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. ($69,700)

3. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. ($77,500)

4. Austin-Round Rock, Texas ($48,400)

5. Provo-Orem, Utah ($43,100)

6. Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, Mass. ($55,600)

7. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif. ($49,300)

8. Madison, Wis. ($46,100)

9. Boston-Quincy, Mass. ($56,300)

10. Salt Lake City, UT ($47,000)

For a closer look at the survey results, be sure to check out PayScale's infographic.