D.C. is a top 10 talent hub for college graduates, according to commercial real estate firm JLL. The region was the sixth-largest recipient of 2024 graduates, ranked No. 5 for attracting graduates from other metro areas and had a 63% retention rate for 2024 graduates from D.C.-area universities.
D.C. has consistently been a draw for post-college young adults.
“We went back to 2015, and every year since 2015 just over 3% of college grads nationally choose to live in D.C., so we are definitely attracting an outsized share of college grads,” said Tammy Shoham, research director at JLL’s D.C. office.
Specifically, 3.2% of 2024 graduates nationwide chose to live in D.C., notable considering the D.C. region accounts for just 1.7% of the U.S. population.
There are cultural, as well as professional reasons why the D.C. region is attractive to college graduates embarking on their careers.
“So many of D.C.’s neighborhoods, our apartment buildings, our retailers, our restaurants, they all cater directly to the tastes and sensibilities of the post-college crowd, and there are just amazing experiences available here in the city,” Shoham said.
Universities from across the country help feed interest in D.C. In addition to the 10 ranked four-year universities in the D.C. metro, more than 50 other universities have satellite campuses here.
“One of the things that those universities are doing here is running programs for their students,” Shoham said. “That could be internship programs or study abroad programs. And some universities have moved full graduate programs to the D.C. area. So that means by the time students graduate, so many who are not local to D.C. have already had a semester of experience in D.C.”
JLL’s research found that 46% of 2024 graduates here relocated from other metro areas.
The U.S. government accounted for 44% of 2024 graduate employment, followed by accounting and consulting firms with 22% and tech firms with 11%. Many of those consulting and tech jobs are related to government contracting.
The most active employers hiring 2024 grads are U.S. congressional staff, Amazon, Deloitte, Capital One and Booz Allen Hamilton.
Below is a snapshot from JLL of college graduates in the D.C. region from its 2024 Talent Hubs report.
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