WisBusiness: Forbes ranks Milwaukee high for young professionals

WisBusiness.com

Beating out locales such as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver and Seattle, Milwaukee has been ranked as the ninth best city by Forbes.com in its “Best Cities For Young Professionals” list. Other Midwestern cities in the top 10 are Chicago, sixth place; and Minneapolis, fifth.

Forbes ranked the country’s 40 biggest metropolitan areas for economic opportunity for young professionals to gauge which cities are attracting the next generation of top business talent.

The Forbes article said “Milwaukee might not be a leading innovator, but it has the fifth-highest concentration of top companies in the country, by our count. And those jobs pay.

“Despite a below-average cost of living, salaries paid to professionals are comfortably above the national average, at $54,169. Sweetening the deal further, the city is in the top quartile for its population of never-married citizens between 20 and 35.”

For the married-with-kids set, the magazine ranked two counties in the Milwaukee area among the top places in the U.S to raise a family. It put Ozaukee and Waukesha counties at second and eighth, respectively. Forbes said they were on the list thanks to their low cost of living, reasonably priced homes and short commutes.

See Forbes’ story: http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/07/09/cities-professionals-young-forbeslife-cx_mw_0709youngprofessionals.html