Many of the cities on the list were among the nation’s most notoriously expensive.

CNBC reports.

College graduates are flocking to these cities

What do cities like Charlotte, Denver, San Francisco and Seattle have in common?

They apparently are magnets for college graduates from all over the country.

A recent study from student loan marketplace Credible found that those four cities — as well as Dallas, New York, Portland, Oakland and Washington, D.C. — had the most out-of-state graduates relative to in-state graduates among 20 large U.S. cities. The survey looked at 4,500 young Americans who have been out of school for an average of 4.5 years.

Washington, D.C., and Charlotte see about 2.2 out-of state graduates for every one in-state graduate, the highest proportion in the group.