{"h1":"Best cities for junior jobs in the West Coast","faq":[{"a":"Bakersfield leads the West Coast for junior jobs: 42% of its professional openings are entry-level or early-career, against 23% across all cities in our data.","q":"Which city ranks first: best cities for junior jobs in the west coast?"},{"a":"71 cities have at least 100 openings, so the list has 71 entries.","q":"How many cities are ranked?"},{"a":"A city's score is the share of its open professional roles tagged entry-level or early-career, read from the full posting text. Only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted. Internships are left out. A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"Bakersfield leads the West Coast for junior jobs: 42% of its professional openings are entry-level or early-career, against 23% across all cities in our data.","minN":100,"rows":[{"n":116,"bar":1,"key":"CA|bakersfield","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/bakersfield","name":"Bakersfield","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"49"},{"label":"All openings","value":"116"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"13%"}],"value":0.4224137931034483,"change":null,"employers":["Creative Financial Staffing","Clinica Sierra Vista"],"valueLabel":"42%"},{"n":149,"bar":0.9056293658402959,"key":"WA|kent","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/kent","name":"Kent","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"57"},{"label":"All openings","value":"149"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"17%"}],"value":0.3825503355704698,"change":null,"employers":["Stoke Space","Cowboy Space","Amazon"],"valueLabel":"38%"},{"n":123,"bar":0.9045959847353576,"key":"OR|salem","sub":"OR","href":"/places/oregon/city/salem","name":"Salem","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"47"},{"label":"All openings","value":"123"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"28%"}],"value":0.3821138211382114,"change":null,"employers":["Agility Robotics","Garmin","Northwest Human Services"],"valueLabel":"38%"},{"n":121,"bar":0.8999831337493676,"key":"CA|stockton","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/stockton","name":"Stockton","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"46"},{"label":"All openings","value":"121"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"21%"}],"value":0.3801652892561984,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon"],"valueLabel":"38%"},{"n":214,"bar":0.8960518786954034,"key":"CA|fresno","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/fresno","name":"Fresno","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"81"},{"label":"All openings","value":"214"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"16%"}],"value":0.3785046728971962,"change":null,"employers":["Pacific Gas & Electric","University Of California San Francisco Foundation","Creative Financial Staffing"],"valueLabel":"38%"},{"n":154,"bar":0.8762258150013252,"key":"CA|santa rosa","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/santa-rosa","name":"Santa Rosa","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"57"},{"label":"All openings","value":"154"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"14%"}],"value":0.3701298701298701,"change":null,"employers":["Keysight Technologies"],"valueLabel":"37%"},{"n":101,"bar":0.8672459082642958,"key":"CA|brea","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/brea","name":"Brea","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"37"},{"label":"All openings","value":"101"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"17%"}],"value":0.3663366336633663,"change":null,"employers":["Envista Holdings","Emeraldtechnologies","Howmet Aerospace"],"valueLabel":"37%"},{"n":176,"bar":0.8474025974025974,"key":"CA|riverside","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/riverside","name":"Riverside","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"63"},{"label":"All openings","value":"176"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"14%"}],"value":0.3579545454545455,"change":null,"employers":["Kaiser Permanente","Pyramid Global Hospitality"],"valueLabel":"36%"},{"n":180,"bar":0.8417233560090703,"key":"CA|anaheim","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/anaheim","name":"Anaheim","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Entry-level openings","value":"64"},{"label":"All openings","value":"180"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"16%"}],"value":0.3555555555555556,"change":null,"employers":["L3HARRIS Technologies","UC Irvine (incl. 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Internships are left out.","A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score."],"builtAt":"2026-11-04T03:37:37.436Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"junior","sources":["NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week"],"baseline":{"label":"all cities in our data","valueLabel":"23%"},"keyFacts":["#1 Bakersfield, CA: 42%","#2 Kent, WA: 38%","#3 Salem, OR: 38%","71 cities ranked in the West Coast","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["The top ten is tightly packed: Bakersfield leads on 42%, and #10 Eugene is at 35%.","Fresno is the largest market in the top ten, with 214 openings behind its figure.","Cities with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful."],"license":"Free to use and share with a link to https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-junior-jobs-in-the-west-coast"}