These Are The 10 Best Jobs In Ohio For Recent College Grads

If you’ve just graduated from college, now’s about the time you’re probably wondering–what next?

For most of you, the answer will be simple: find a job. And for many of you, the answer will be: find any job. Because we’ve all heard the horror stories of graduating and the pickings being slim, we’ve decided to go ahead and save you some trouble.

After some research and number crunching, we’ve determined the 10 best jobs for recent college grads in Ohio. Here they are:

1. Computer Systems Analysts
2. Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists
3. Database Administrators
4. Occupational Health and Safety Technicians
5. Cost Estimators
6. Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians
7. Sales Engineers
8. Industrial Engineers
9. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products
10. Computer Network Support Specialists

We know what you’re thinking–computer systems analysts? Really?

You’ll want to keep reading to find out just how we came up with this list and why each job made the cut. Yes, even epic consultant.

How we determined the best entry level jobs in Ohio

We’ve been talking to a lot of recent college graduates recently, so we have a pretty good sense of what they want in their first job. Their list normally goes in something like this order:

1. ANY JOB!! (Availability of jobs)
2. Location
3. Pay
4. Potential for growth
5. Work life balance

Lucky for everyone, there’s data available from various sources for ech of the items on this list. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides data on pay by location, each state’s Department of Labor compiles job growth statistics, and ONet Online, another government source, has data on job requirements.

We combined data from each of these sources to produce a master database that contains information for every profession. Specifically, we looked at the following criteria:

• Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given state.
• Only for jobs in Ohio that require a college degree.
• Average annual entry level salary .
• Projected growth as an industry over the next 10 years.

By limiting the dataset to only those jobs that require a bachelors degree, we were left with 38 jobs to rank.

We then ranked each job on each criteria from 1 to 38 with 1 being the best.

Next, we took the average of each job’s rankings to create a “Job Score”.

Finally, we ranked every job’s “Job Score” from 1 to 38 with 1, again, being the best.

One Job Please

Just graduating from college can be a scary time–but don’t forget, it’s also exciting. You have so many options, so many jobs to pick (or not pick! Go travel!), and so many choices! The world is your oyster, and with this list, so is the job market.

Below is a more detailed look at the best jobs for recent college graduates in the Buckeye State.

Detailed List Of The Best Entry Level Jobs In Ohio For Recent College Grads

Rank	Job	Growth %	Entry Wage	Jobs in 2024
1	Computer Systems Analysts	20.35%	$52,650	35,430
2	Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists	11.88%	$44,500	7,250
3	Database Administrators	11.26%	$47,050	5,140
4	Occupational Health and Safety Technicians	8.08%	$34,250	1,070
5	Cost Estimators	9.09%	$33,730	11,160
6	Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians	13.59%	$28,760	7,020
7	Sales Engineers	4.29%	$51,360	3,160
8	Industrial Engineers	1.96%	$51,210	11,940
9	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products	5.68%	$35,680	24,540
10	Computer Network Support Specialists	6.36%	$32,810	8,200
11	Credit Analysts	5.06%	$41,630	3,530
12	Web Developers	26.39%	$31,510	6,610
13	Management Analysts	12.04%	$41,070	26,980
14	Network and Computer Systems Administrators	6.16%	$46,450	15,690
15	Technical Writers	9.6%	$40,380	1,370
16	Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors	19.25%	$27,840	3,160
17	Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education	3.99%	$33,380	6,250
18	Commercial and Industrial Designers	1.57%	$36,830	2,580
19	Credit Counselors	9.01%	$31,910	1,210
20	Social and Human Service Assistants	9.21%	$19,160	12,570
21	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer	-3.2%	$57,260	3,630
22	Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health	6.5%	$24,850	1,310
23	Residential Advisors	20.62%	$20,810	3,100
24	Rehabilitation Counselors	3.86%	$21,990	6,720
25	Human Resources Specialists	3.52%	$32,230	16,750
26	Insurance Sales Agents	6.19%	$26,900	19,050
27	Coaches and Scouts	6.59%	$17,580	10,190
28	Paralegals and Legal Assistants	8.36%	$27,630	7,910
29	Recreation Workers	9.47%	$17,650	14,800
30	Self-Enrichment Education Teachers	12.36%	$18,510	10,820
31	Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	6.69%	$26,080	2,710
32	Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	-7.51%	$35,960	1,600
33	Interior Designers	5.88%	$20,170	1,980
34	Clergy	2.61%	$20,190	19,290
35	Surveyors	-1.94%	$32,940	1,010
36	Computer Programmers	-8.68%	$36,410	6,840
37	Directors, Religious Activities and Education	2.05%	$19,290	1,990
38	Advertising Sales Agents	-7.74%	$20,400	3,220