These Washington metro areas are ranked among the best for millennials, study says
Two of the most attractive regions for millennials are right here in Washington, a new study finds.
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue comes out on top, ranking No. 4 on a list of best destinations for younger adults who want to move, according to the commercial real estate blog CommercialCafé.
Not too far behind in the No. 9 spot is Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, a region that straddles the border between Washington and Oregon, results released earlier this month show. The area earned solid rankings across all categories in the analysis of migration and job trends for people ages 25 to 34, according to findings from the 10 top-scoring regions.
Among the those metro areas, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue had the highest population growth for millennials, according to the list. Its population of people in that age group increased by 14 percent from 2014 to 2018, results show.
The Tacoma area also had one of the highest percentages of millennials in its overall population when compared to others in the rankings, according to CommercialCafé.
Just this month, the moving company Atlas Van Lines announced Washington was the second-most popular state for inbound moves in 2019, The News-Tribune previously reported.
It wasn’t only population figures that made the Tacoma area stand out to analysts at CommercialCafé.
Seventy percent of millennials in the region get health insurance through work, one of the highest rates in the country, the findings show.
But Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue fell to the bottom in another category.
It had the longest commute time among all metro areas in the top 10, according to the rankings. The study says it takes just over 31 minutes to get to work on average, but it notes local conditions can play a role.
“A longer commute in Austin-Round Rock (Texas) may mean something different for relocating young workers than it would for those in an area like the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro—which has invested in its infrastructure and public transportation, including bike lanes and improved walkability,” the study says.
The results come just as WalletHub last week named Washington one of the worst places for drivers in the United States.
To come up with its rankings, CommercialCafé analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data for metro areas where more than 1 million people live.
Overall, the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area in Colorado was named as the top spot for millennials interested in relocating, results show.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 1:00 PM with the headline "These Washington metro areas are ranked among the best for millennials, study says."
