Provo, Utah, is seeing the fastest growth in entry-level wages in the U.S., according to new Glassdoor data.
While cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and New York still offer the highest starting salaries overall, looking at where pay is growing fastest highlights emerging opportunities for early-career workers.
Between 2020 and October 2025, entry-level wages in Provo rose an average of 7% per year, Glassdoor reports.
Close behind are Boise, Idaho (+5.5%); Orlando, Florida (+5.4%); and Charleston, South Carolina (+5.3%).
Tulsa, Oklahoma (+3.2%); Des Moines, Iowa (+3.4%); and Birmingham, Alabama (+3.4%) saw the smallest gains among the metro areas studied.
The findings draw from more than 5 million salary submissions from users with 0–4 years of experience, covering January 2020 through October 2025, and focusing on metros with at least 1,000 data points per year.
Starting a career in a soft labor market is challenging, but Glassdoor notes a bright spot: wage growth for early-career workers is accelerating, and 2026 is projected to be the first year their purchasing power surpasses 2020 levels.
For those deciding where to begin or advance their careers, these up-and-coming cities may offer strong opportunities to boost earnings—even if they don’t yet have the highest starting pay.