Georgia jobs: Augusta among worst US cities to start career

Of the 150 most populated cities in America, one Georgia city ranked among the worst places in the nation to start a career.

In fact, Augusta (about two hours east of Atlanta) came in third to last in personal finance website WalletHub's best and worst places to start a career in 2017.

To come up with the list, WalletHub analysts compared the most populated US cities across two key dimensions: professional opportunities and quality of life.

Scores were assessed based on 23 relevant metrics including availability of entry-level jobs, annual job growth, median annual income, average commute time among several others.

Analysts collected data from the U.S. Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Housing and Urban Development and more.

With a total score of 68.72, Salt Lake City, Utah, was named the best city to start a career in 2017. The city earned top honors across both key dimensions.

Atlanta, which ranked sixth on the list, ranked in the top 10 for both professional opportunities and quality of life.

But Georgia cities Columbus (No. 133) and Augusta (No. 148) were recognized as some of the country’s worst cities to start a career, according to the WalletHub ranking.

Augusta received a total score of 36.03 and ranked 144th for professional opportunities and 143rd for quality of life.

The only cities on the list with scores worse than Augusta were Newark, New Jersey, and Cleveland, Ohio.

Both Augusta and Columbus were also recognized as one of the 10 unhappiest cities in the country in WalletHub's "Happiest Places to Live" ranking for factors such as income/employment, emotional/physical well-being and community/environment.

Here are the 10 best cities to start a career, according to WalletHub: