These are the 10 best UK towns and cities for graduates — and London isn't one of them

King's college, Cambridge.

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Cambridge has been named as the best place for students to work and live in the U.K. on completing their studies, according to a list compiled by a graduate careers app. 

With working from home having become the norm for many due to the coronavirus pandemic, finding your first job as a graduate may be a search that no longer has to be isolated to a big city like London. 

In fact, Debut found the U.K. capital came in 39^th place in a ranking of Britain's best towns and cities for college graduates. 

Debut ranked the U.K.'s 50 most populated towns and cities based on how they scored on seven factors: average salary, monthly living costs, average rent for a one bed property, employment rate, percentage of the population aged 18-25, number of pubs and bars per 10,000 people, and the number of restaurants per 100,000 people. 

The graduate recruitment app used existing data from the likes of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and property website Zoopla to give each location an overall average score out of 100. The average salary, collected from ONS's 2019 data, was given a double weighted score.

So, while London had the highest average salary of £36,797 ($48,910), it also had the largest average monthly living cost of £827.99 and the steepest monthly rent rate of £1,930.

Cambridge claimed the top spot, partly thanks to its high rate of employment, with more than four-fifths of its population in a job. The city in eastern England also had the second-highest average salary, at £34,565. Living costs were also slightly more bearable than in the capital, at £707.85 a month and rent at £713. 

Its university rival Oxford came in second place on Debut's list, with an average annual paycheck of £31,472. It typically costs £702.41 to live in the city in central southern England and £761 to live in a one-bed home. 

Top 10 U.K. towns and cities for graduates 

1. Cambridge 

Average salary: £34,565

Monthly living costs: £707.85

Rent (one bed property: £713

Rate of employment: 81%

Population aged 18-25: 23%

Bars per 10,000 people: 7

Restaurants per 10,000 people: 106 

2. Oxford 

Average salary: £31,472

Monthly living costs: £702.41

Rent (one bed property: £761

Rate of employment: 81%

Population aged 18-25: 24%

Bars per 10,000 people: 7

Restaurants per 10,000 people: 87 

3. Brighton and Hove 

Average salary: £32,003

Monthly living costs: £769.20

Rent (one bed property: £919

Rate of employment: 75%

Population aged 18-25: 17%

Bars per 10,000 people: 8

Restaurants per 10,000 people: 106 

4. York

Average salary: £28,671

Monthly living costs: £706.46

Rent (one bed property: £723

Rate of employment: 79%

Population aged 18-25: 17%

Bars per 10,000 people: 9

Restaurants per 10,000 people: 89 

5. Edinburgh 

Average salary: £32,182

Monthly living costs: £652.31

Rent (one bed property: £883

Rate of employment: 76%

Population aged 18-25: 13%

Bars per 10,000 people: 7

Restaurants per 10,000 people: 84 

6. Cardiff 

Average salary: £30,475

Monthly living costs: £638.06

Rent (one bed property: £613

Rate of employment: 76%

Population aged 18-25: 17%

Bars per 10,000 people: 5

Restaurants per 10,000 people: 89 

7. Norwich

Average salary: £26,813

Monthly living costs: £668.73

Rent (one bed property: £544

Rate of employment: 73%

Population aged 18-25: 19%

Bars per 10,000 people: 8

Restaurants per 10,000 people: 105

8. Bristol 

Average salary: £30,388

Monthly living costs: £701.64

Rent (one bed property: £666

Rate of employment: 78%

Population aged 18-25: 16%

Bars per 10,000 people: 6

Restaurants per 10,000 people: 84 

9. Bournemouth 

Average salary: £30,781

Monthly living costs: £615.77

Rent (one bed property: £660

Rate of employment: 79%

Population aged 18-25: 13%

Bars per 10,000 people: 4

Restaurants per 10,000 people: 80 

10. Reading 

Average salary: £32,852

Monthly living costs: £729.83

Rent (one bed property: £663

Rate of employment: 78%

Population aged 18-25: 14%

Bars per 10,000 people: 5

Restaurants per 10,000 people: 75

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