Metro population: 19,069,796 (includes Long Island and Northern New Jersey)
Cost-of-living index: 218 (Manhattan), 179 (Brooklyn), 158 (Queens)
Median monthly rent: $1,025 (average is $819) Hmm.
Average annual wage: $50,784
Unemployment rate: 9.4%
Percentage of Gen Y residents: 21.9%
There's no place for recent graduates quite like the Big Apple: the job prospects are exceptional and the culture and nightlife are without parallel. Yes, it's tough to live here. The cost-of-living is the highest in the continental U.S. Conveniences most Americans take for granted don't exist here, like places to park a car. Fortunately, however, there are still areas of the city where young professionals can eke out a living: Brooklyn's Prospect Heights has recently come into vogue, Sunnyside and Long Island City in Queens are youth-friendly, and the money you save on rent in Hoboken will help ease the stigma of being a "B&Ter" (bridge-and-tunneler - someone who works and spends time in Manhattan, but actually lives elsewhere).
PROS: Incomparable job opportunities, an extensive mass transportation system that makes car-owning superfluous and allows young adults to live well outside the city.
CONS: Expensive, sometimes ridiculously so. But hey, if you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere.
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