Key Takeaways:
College graduates no longer need to choose between affordability and career opportunity, with Sunbelt cities like Birmingham and Tulsa leading a shift in where young professionals can thrive.
The mayors of Birmingham and Tulsa argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Wednesday that their cities offer college graduates a rare combination of career opportunity and affordability, citing an ADP Research ranking that placed both among the six best US cities for new graduates.
"For too long, cities have expected young professionals to sacrifice money and proximity to family for the promise of opportunity, only to fall short on their end of the bargain," Randall Woodfin, mayor of Birmingham, and Monroe Nichols, mayor of Tulsa, wrote in the May 29 column.
Birmingham's average monthly rent stands at $1,182, 28% below the national average, while its median home price of $162,000 is 61% lower than the US median, the mayors said. Tulsa offers even lower rents at $913 a month — 44% below the national average — with a median home price of $225,000, or 46% below the US figure. The cities beat New York, Boston and San Francisco in the ADP Research employment ranking.
The column reflects a broader recalibration of where young talent chooses to settle, as entry-level job postings continue to decline and artificial intelligence absorbs junior-level work. Birmingham and Tulsa have spent decades diversifying their economies to compete for that talent, and the mayors' message is clear: graduates should consider cities that would "feel lucky to have them."
Birmingham has built a bustling bioscience sector anchored by the University of Alabama campus. The Southern Research Institute's Station 41 biotech incubator is in such demand that it will have more than doubled its lab and office space since 2024 by the end of this year, the mayors wrote. The city also attracted major corporate relocations including Fannie Mae, which moved jobs from a California office, and Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United, which is investing $330 million in a new headquarters and warehouse and sales facilities. The US Coast Guard plans a new training center in the city.
Tulsa, once the oil capital of the world, has diversified into drones and advanced manufacturing while attracting investments from Nvidia and Microsoft to help build an AI industry where Black Wall Street once stood. The city's remote worker relocation program, one of the first in the country, has drawn more than 4,000 people who have contributed nearly $900 million and more than 1,000 new jobs to the local economy as of 2025, according to the mayors.
Economic diversification drives the shift
The two cities' trajectories reflect a broader Sunbelt trend. The ADP Research report that ranked Birmingham and Tulsa among the top six also included other affordable, growing metros — a contrast to coastal hubs where the cost of living has outpaced wage growth for entry-level workers. The mayors, both Democrats, framed the shift as a structural change in how young professionals evaluate opportunity, moving away from the assumption that a big-city salary justifies a higher cost of living.
The last time a comparable wave of Sunbelt migration occurred was during the 2010s, when cities like Austin, Nashville and Charlotte saw rapid population growth driven by corporate relocations and lower taxes. Birmingham and Tulsa are now positioning themselves as the next beneficiaries of that trend, with targeted investments in bioscience, advanced manufacturing and AI infrastructure.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
