But some places are definitely better than others when it comes to finding an internship. Students might find cities with more access to public transportation useful. And it’s hard to justify moving for an unpaid or low-pay internship to a city where rent is astronomical.
Those are just two of the metrics GoodCall analysts used to rank the 2017 Best Cities for Summer Internships. These are cities that have a high number of available internships per capita, where cost of living is reasonable and crime isn’t rampant. They’re also generally nice places to live, with abundant restaurants, bars and other amenities.
The top 10 Best Cities for Summer Internships were:
- Morgantown, W.V.
- Greenville, S.C.
- West Des Moines, Iowa
- Naples, Fla.
- Neenah, Wisc.
- Charlottesville, Va.
- Asheville, N.C.
- Golden Valley, Minn.
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Portsmouth, N.H.
Morgantown, a city of just over 30,000, had the 12th highest internships per capita, eighth most restaurants per capita, a skilled workforce, and median rent for less than $600. The city in northeastern West Virginia is a college town – home to West Virginia University – and it sits on the eastern side of the Monongahela River.
The cities in the top 10% of the list were spread across the country, but many of the lowest ranked cities were in California and Texas. Top cities also tended to be a bit smaller: The top 10% average about 89,000 residents, while the bottom 10% averages over 103,000.
Methodology
Analysts ranked 1,122 cities based on 11 metrics to indicate areas that are great for students. Here’s breakdown of the score:
Potential for Students to Get a High-Quality Internship
25% – Number of Available Internships per 10,000 people. Data came from Indeed. using Indeed’s “internship” filter.
10% – Networking Potential. Data represents the number of firms per 1,000 people from the Economic Census 2012 Geographic Area Series. In cities where data wasn’t available, county-level data was used instead.
10% – Skilled Workforce. The percentage of the civilian employed workforce age 16 and older in management, business, science, and arts occupations from American Community Survey 2015 1-year supplemental estimates.
5% – Unemployment. Data came from the American Community Survey 2015 1-year supplemental estimates for residents age 16 and older.
Affordability
10% – Cost of Living. Costs include housing, groceries, health care, and other metrics, from Sperling’s best places 2016 data by city.
10% – Rent. The median gross rent from one-bedroom renter-occupied housing units paying rent from the ACS 2015 5-year estimates.
10% – Commute Time. Data shows the percentage of workers who do not work at home whose commute is less than 30 minutes, from the American Community Survey 1-year supplemental estimates.
5% – Public Transportation. The percentage of workers age 16 and older who commute to work using public transportation, from the 2015 American Community Survey 1-year supplemental estimates.
Nice Place for Students
5% – Restaurants and Bars. Metric shows the number of food and drinking places per 1,000 people, from the Economic Census 2012 Geographic Area Series by economic place. In places where city data wasn’t available, county-level data was used.
5% – Amenities. The number of arts, entertainment, and recreation facilities per 1,000 people, from the Economic Census 2012 Geographic Area Series by economic place. If city data wasn’t available, county-level data was used.
5% – Crime. The number of crimes per 1,000 residents, from the FBI 2015 data for cities.