Some unexpected cities are succeeding in attracting young talent where safe bets like Austin and Seattle fall by the wayside - March 11th - The Real Deal.

The research is in: millennials are settling in some unexpected places to build their careers.

The top 10 metro areas where college-educated millennials gather is supposed to point to strong real estate markets — demarcated by high median house prices — and strong economies, but there are some surprising results in the new geographical rankings, complied by the Brookings Institute.

In response, CityLab ran a correlation analysis to compare the Brookings’ data to generally accepted indicators of talent, technology, diversity and density to find that millennials gather in the same metro areas where older populations of college-educated people already are; where there is a high concentration of people working in artistic and tech-related industries; and are positively co-related with cities that have large LGBTQ and Asian communities.

Here’s a look at the unexpected cities the Brookings Institute ranked in the top 10 for millennial workers. [CityLab] — Erin Hudson

Boston