The 50 ‘Hottest Jobs’ For 2021 College Graduates

Graduate stands in front of a chalkboard looking through her diploma like a monoscope.

Business continues to be the most popular major in the U.S. And it’s for good reason. Business majors are usually in demand, make good money, and can have interesting jobs. But according to a recent ranking of the 50 “hottest jobs” for 2021 college graduates, business-related jobs are not the hottest jobs around.

The list, which was published by RENTCafé, an apartment search website, has medical and STEM-related jobs towards the top. To create the ranking, RENTCafé created an “Opportunity Score” based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data projecting occupation growth between 2019 and 2029 and highest annual wage estimates, both of which were weighted equally.

At the top of the list is nurse practitioner, which has a growth rate of 52.4% and median wage of $109,820. The 10-year projected growth rate of 52.4% is by far the highest growth rate. The next highest was statistician and occupational therapy assistant, which both had a 34.6% growth rate. Following nurse practitioners in the overall ranking is physician assistant. Medical and health services manager rounds out the top three.

Rounding out the top five are software developer/quality assurance analyst/tester and information security analyst. The first traditional business-related job on the list is economist at No. 11, which has a growth rate of 14.1% and median projected wage of $105,020. Other business-related jobs to pop up on the list are operations research analyst (No. 13), management analyst (No. 22), sales manager (No. 29), market research analyst/marketing specialist (No. 41), and financial examiner (No. 44).

CITIES WITH THE MOST ‘HOT JOBS’

RENTCafé also created a ranking of the 20 top metro areas with the highest share of “hottest jobs.” To do that, they simply looked at the 100 most populous metropolitan areas in the U.S. and calculated employment of the “hot jobs” per 1,000 jobs. In the case of ties, RENTCafé used its highest annual wage estimate as a tiebreaker.

San Jose, California topped the list with 166 hot jobs per 1,000 overall jobs. Following San Jose is Washington, D.C. with 113 hot jobs per 1,000 jobs. And rounding out the top three was Seattle with 111 hot jobs per 1,000 jobs. San Francisco and Boston followed in fourth and fifth, respectively.

California had the most cities represented, with four making the top-20. Besides the Bay Area cities of San Francisco and San Jose, Sacramento and San Diego also made the top-20. North Carolina was the state with the next highest amount of cities represented, with Durham, Raleigh, and Charlotte all making the top-20. The only other state with multiple cities in the top-20 was Colorado with Denver and Colorado Springs making the list.

BEST CITIES CONSIDERING COST OF LIVING IS DOMINATED BY THE MIDWEST AND SOUTHEAST

RENTCafé also created an interactive way of looking at the best metro areas for specific hot jobs on the list. For example, if you look at the best metro areas for economists, Cleveland, Ohio leads the list. That ranking is created based on median wage estimates, those specific jobs per 1,000 jobs, and a cost of living rank. When median wage and cost of living are both considered, the middle of the country thrives. Following Cleveland as the best metro areas for economists are Indianapolis (second), Kansas City, Missouri (third), Columbia, South Carolina (fourth), and Columbus, Ohio (fifth).

For Financial Examiners, Kansas City surges to the top metro area. The middle of the country and south again dominate with Jackson, Mississippi (second), Pittsburgh (third), Winston-Salem, North Carolina (fourth), and Columbus (fifth) following Kansas City. Same goes for Management Analysts where cities in North Carolina and Ohio make up all of the top five and Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists where cities in North Carolina, Ohio, and Iowa make up all of the top five.

The entire report can be found here.

DON’T MISS: THE WORLD’S MOST ATTRACTIVE EMPLOYERS, ACCORDING TO BUSINESS STUDENTS or BUSINESS SCHOOLS WHERE STUDENTS GET THEIR DESIRED JOBS