Gen Z News
Exciting Austin makes top 10 in list of best cities for Gen Z
Young people have been building exciting new lives in Austin for decades.
A new report confirms that Austin — with a super-active music scene, a great mix of fine and popular art, and a big college population around the University of Texas — is a great place for young adults to call home.
A new study by commercial real estate website CommercialCafe has pegged Austin as the No. 7 best city in the United States for Gen Z.
As the report puts it, the "experience-hungry generation" often seeks out an affordable area of town with vast opportunities for entertainment, education, or employment, which are three things Austin excels in.
Approximately 7.1 percent of the city's total population are Gen Zers, according to the analysis. (Gen Z is defined as the "newest generation," born between 1997 and 2012, now aged 11 to 26 years old.)
In the category for fun things to do, the study found that San Antonio has nearly 3,099 different recreational establishments for Gen Zers to enjoy. That's only 501 fewer than San Antonio, which is has a population about 50 percent larger than Austin's, meaning the smaller city has a much higher concentration of things to do.
Other metrics that were taken into account in CommercialCafe's report include an affordability index, jobs for recent graduates, the city's unemployment rate, and the number of parks per 10,000 residents. Even though rents aren't exactly cheap, Austin and the towns nearby are still more affordable than many large cities across the U.S.
Austin was No. 6 in a smaller breakdown within the report that compared job availability to cost of living and unemployment rate. It's not just that things don't cost much in Austin, but that young people are more likely to have the tools they need to afford them.
"Specifically, we looked at the share that Gen Zers hold out of each city’s total population to identify where relocating young professionals are more likely to find like-minded individuals," the report's author said.
Austin wasn't the only Texas city to make it into the top 20. Houston ranked No. 9, followed by Fort Worth (No. 17) and San Antonio (No. 20). Dallas, surprisingly, didn't make it onto CommercialCafe's list.
The top 10 best cities for Gen Z are:
- No. 1 – Minneapolis
- No. 2 – Atlanta
- No. 3 – Boston
- No. 4 – Columbus, Ohio
- No. 5 – Raleigh, North Carolina
- No. 6 – Tucson, Arizona
- No. 7 – Austin, Texas
- No. 8 – Milwaukee
- No. 9 – Houston
- No. 10 – Philadelphia
