If you are a recent graduate or an employer that is looking to hire young professionals in the Northwest, then this is your year! Forbes.com recently listed 5 Northwest cities in their top 40 list. Here is what Forbes had to say about Portland.

21) Portland, OR

In the two measures of graduates and companies, Portland ranks 19th nationally. What pushes it to 22nd has mostly to do with cost of living and salary data. Compared with West Coast cities like Seattle, San Francisco or L.A., Portland is cheap, but nationally it's still above the median-cost level, without the high salaries of other West Coast cities.

And the 4 other Northwest cities:

36) Salt Lake City, UT

Salt Lake City is the nation's leader in job growth and as a result is one of the country's fastest-growing cities. It remains to be seen whether the current economic boom will result in the development of a leading innovative economy that can, in turn, attract graduates from all over the country. The city is at a bit of a disadvantage because it ranks at the bottom of the never-married category.

28) Sacramento, CA

The good news for Sacramento was that it ranked 15th in its ability to attract and hold graduates from our basket of elite schools, suggesting that the Central Valley city is on young professionals' radar. However, none of our 400 best big companies and 200 best small companies call Sacramento home, which dramatically hurt its score.

19) Seattle, WA

Though Seattle is a growing destination for young professionals who have taken advantage of its growing economy, the number of Forbes-tracked companies there has not yet reached the level of critical mass to propel it into our top 15. By graduates alone, Seattle ranks ninth, but when you combine that with its 25th place ranking, it slips to 19.

1) San Francisco, CA

The total number of our tracked graduates and highly rated companies in San Francisco was second only to New York, except that San Francisco is a small fraction of its East Coast rival's size. Adjusted for its population, San Francisco has the highest share of graduates from the class of 1998 and the fourth-highest tally of companies. The exorbitant cost of living hurts, but high salaries and a top-quartile rating for its never-married population place it in the top spot.

For more information on how the rankings are determined, read the full article here. Congratulations to everyone who made the list and look forward to seeing who else makes the list next year.