The top 10 best UK cities for job-hunting graduates

Thursday, August 3, 2023

Many graduates are taking their final exams in the coming weeks and have begun looking at potential graduate jobs to apply for. But which cities offer the most job prospects for University leavers? 

The home insurance team at Compare the Market has created a graduate index taking into account factors such as the number of job opportunities, living costs, and the number of other 21-30-year-olds to reveal the best cities for those looking for a graduate scheme in the coming months. 

The table below shows the 10 with the most graduate job opportunities: 

Rank

City

Number of graduate jobs

1

London

4,966

2

Manchester

1,345

3

Birmingham

914

4

Reading

882

5

Coventry

861

6

Leeds

798

7

Wolverhampton

796

8

Bradford

792

9

Luton

768

10

Newport

696

Some other key findings that may of interest: 

  •  Glasgow has the least 21-30-year-olds of all UK cities, with just 12,377.
  • London ranks as the worst UK city for graduates, with high monthly rental prices of £1,442.38 and transport passes of £160.
  • Bradford is the top city for graduates, with average rent prices of just £463.12 a month, and around 792 graduate jobs to choose from.

You can view the full press release below or the full study here: https://www.comparethemarket.com/home-insurance/content/best-and-worst-graduate-areas/