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Michigan Has One of the Best Cities to Start a Career – And Worst

It’s spring, and that means it’s graduation time. Students across the U.S. are graduating from high school, college and trade schools and looking to start their careers in the best…

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Two employees talking

It's spring, and that means it's graduation time. Students across the U.S. are graduating from high school, college and trade schools and looking to start their careers in the best way possible. So, when it comes to the best cities to start those careers, which cities are on top?

The staff at WalletHub has put together a study to determine the best and worst places to start a career in America. "Deciding where to lay the foundation for a long and prosperous career can be a tall order, especially for recent graduates entering the job market for the first time," they state in the study. "After all, there are many factors — job-market saturation, housing affordability and commuter-friendliness, for instance — to consider about each prospective area."

They add that things are bright for recent graduates, stating, "Fortunately, new graduates are entering the market at a good time, as the unemployment rate for people ages 20 through 24 is currently 6.9%. The job market has made a huge recovery from the damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic, and employers plan to hire 31.6% more graduates from the Class of 2022 than they did from the Class of 2021."

In the study, WalletHub "compared the relative market strength and overall livability of more than 180 U.S. cities to help recent college graduates find the best cradles for their budding careers." They used 27 key metrics to examine each city, including availability of entry-level jobs, monthly average starting salary and housing affordability.

So, which Michigan cities made the cut? The highest Michigan town on the list is Grand Rapids, Michigan, at No. 33. It got a total score of 53.35. One other city made the cut, but unfortunately, it's towards the bottom of the list. That's Detroit, coming in at No. 178 out of 180. I actually think Detroit is a great place to start a career, but this is the study. The No. 1 city in the entire country to starts a career, according to the study, is Salt Lake City, Utah. For the full list, go here.

High school is obviously an important time for learning. Often times, what you learn in K-12 dictates the kind of education you'll get for the rest of your life. As the daughter of a public high school teacher and counselor, I know the importance of high school first hand.

U.S. News & World Report has released its annual list of the 100 best high schools in the nation, and three Michigan high schools are in there. The publication also released a list of the 50 best Michigan high schools for 2022. The rankings were released on Tuesday (April 26), so they're very current. Note that for the rankings, "Schools were required to have assessment data available to be reviewed for a ranking. Some imputations were made, though, for missing data for student body, subgroup level assessment data and graduation rates."

Rankings are based on a variety of factors, such as college readiness (30%), college curriculum breadth (10%), state assessment proficiency (20%), state assessment performance (20%), underserved student performance (10%) and graduation rate (10%). The data is from the 2019-20 school year, and it looks at all public high schools in the state. "With most states closing schools for in-person instruction beginning in March 2020 – typically just before most states conduct assessments – the U.S. Department of Education granted waivers allowing all states to forego state testing for the 2019-2020 school year," the publication states.

So, which schools are the best of the best in Michigan? Read on for the full list of the 50 best high schools in Michigan, with the top three even falling into the category of the top 100 best high schools in the U.S.

The 50 Best Michigan High Schools - Ranked

U.S. News & World Report has released its annual list of the best high schools in Michigan-.

Here's the list, as well as links to find out why each school was chosen!

50. Canton Preparatory High School

49. Bloomfield Hills High School

48. H.H. Dow High School

47. Community High School

46. Central High School

45. Dexter High School

44. Leland Public School

43. South Lyon East High School

42. East Lansing High School

41. Rochester High School

40. Jenison High School

39. Spring Lake High School

38. Bridgman High School

37. Hudsonville High School

36. Plymouth High School

35. Salem High School

34. Huron High School

33. Houghton Central High School

32. Renaissance High School

31. Elk Rapids High School

30. Chelsea High School

29. Eastern High School

28. Central High School

27. Frankenmuth High School

26. West Michigan Aviation Academy

25. Canton High School

24. Byron Center High School

23. Wylie E. Groves High School

22. Pioneer High School

21. Northern High School

20. Saline High School

19. Pewamo-Westphalia Middle/High School

18. Stoney Creek High School

17. Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy

16. Okemos High School

15. Ernest W. Seaholm High School

14. Black River Public School

13. East Grand Rapids High School

12. Athens High School

11. University High School Academy

10. Skyline High School

9. Grosse Pointe South High School

8. Northville High School

7. Novi High School

6. Rochester Adams High School

5. Troy High School

4. Washtenaw International High School

3. International Academy

2. International Academy of Macomb

1. City High Middle School

Anne Erickson started her radio career shortly after graduating from Michigan State University and has worked on-air in Detroit, Flint, Toledo, Lansing and beyond. As someone who absolutely loves rock, metal and alt music, she instantly fell in love with radio and hasn’t looked back. When she’s not working, Anne makes her own music with her band, Upon Wings, and she also loves cheering on her favorite Detroit and Michigan sports teams, especially Lions and MSU football. Anne is also an award-winning journalist, and her byline has run in a variety of national publications. You can also hear her weekends on WRIF.