As the school year comes to a close, young people everywhere are beginning the next chapter of their lives — and where they choose to begin that chapter can have serious ramifications.

Some cities, like New York and San Francisco, boast huge employment opportunities while others cities like Los Angeles and Miami stand out for promoting healthy work-life balance.

But it turns out smaller cities can get the combination just right.

Personal finance site WalletHub compared 182 cities — including the 150 most populated U.S. cities and at least two of the most populated cities in each state — across two key dimensions, professional opportunities and quality of life. They found that New York and Los Angeles didn't even make the top 100.

Here are the 10 best cities to start a career and build a life: