Listen to this postKey Takeaways College graduates have to navigate a hiring downturn and rising living costs. Graduates targeting a financial leg up might want to focus on states in the middle of the country, which ranked highly for low graduate unemployment rates, low living costs and decent tax rates, the report found. The state boasts the lowest graduate unemployment rate, at just 0.9%, an average graduate salary of $58,207 and zero marginal income tax, per the research. Although Iowa and North Dakota offer lower-than-average salaries, those earnings are offset by low unemployment rates and favorable tax rates, according to Kickresume. Read on to see Kickresume’s affordability heat map, which scores all 50 U.S. states on cost of living, taxes, graduate pay and jobs.