As America tries to recover from a recession, its young people, or "millennials," try to navigate life after college, but certain cities are better than others for them to do so.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Washington D.C. is the best city for people aged 25-34 to live and work. New York City-Manhattan do not even crack the top 50, while Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia each rank lowly in the same category.

Each city was ranked on its net migration, how many more people were moving into the city than were moving out, from 2010 to 2012. Based on the top 50, two of the nation's biggest states are the best bet for young people, with Texas and California cities each ranking highly and throughout the list.

Surprisingly, D.C. made a big jump from its ranking during the recession, going from 33 to number one. Also making large jumps were San Francisco and Minneapolis. On the other hand, some cities took harsh falls, like Sacramento going from 20 to 42 and Phoenix falling to 38 from the eighth spot.

The Journal suggested the swing in young people moving to the nation's capital had a lot to do with Barack Obama taking office. The President attracted many young voters during his campaign and could have also influenced their migration decisions.

The other, more concrete, reason is its transformation into a technology hub for young minds. During the recession, D.C. was losing millennials, but it and San Francisco have seen a huge upswing due to various "high-tech" companies attractive to young people.

Still, this data should not suggest more millennials are moving, because recent Consensus data points to just the opposite. Less young adults are moving than ever before because of the weak job market and recovering economy.

Here are the ten best cities - and their suburbs - for young adults to live post-recession.

1. Washington D.C.

Pre-recession Rank: 33

Net Migration: 12,583

2. Denver, Colo.

Pre-recession Rank: 3

Net Migration: 11,988

3. Portland, Ore.

Pre-recession Rank: 6

Net Migration: 8,363

4. Houston, Texas

Pre-recession Rank: 4

Net Migration: 8,272

5. Austin, Texas

Pre-recession Rank: 1

Net Migration: 8,061

6. San Francisco, Calif.

Pre-recession Rank: 22

Net Migration: 7,688

7. Seattle, Was.

Pre-recession Rank: 5

Net Migration: 7,129

8. Riverside, Calif.

Pre-recession Rank: 10

Net Migration: 5,690

9. Dallas, Texas

Pre-recession Rank: 2

Net Migration: 51,54

10. Charlotte, N.C.

Pre-recession Rank: 9

Net Migration: 4,147