3. Seattle-Bellvue-Everett (Wash.)
Metro population: 2.4 million
Unemployment rate: 8.1 percent
Cost of living index: 132.9 (100 is average)
Seattle was the grunge music capital in the 90s and it’s “still a very happening place,” Sperling said. No surprises there at all. It ranks high on indie culture, the number of young people and green living.
