How to Find Entry-Level Jobs in the US in 2026 (Without Applying to Ghost Jobs)
October 6, 2026 · 3 min read · United States
New grads describe the same experience: hundreds of applications, a few replies. Some of that is the market. Some of it is applying to the wrong posts at the wrong time. Here is what FirstHire's job data shows, and a routine that uses it.
There are more entry-level jobs than it feels like
In the first days of October 2026, FirstHire collected more than 8,600 US job posts asking for 0–2 years of experience, from LinkedIn and company career sites. Of those:
- 57% asked for no prior experience
- About 11% were remote or hybrid
- 363 were internships
The posts came from almost 4,800 different employers. The busiest were IBM, SpaceX, Anduril, Epic, Walmart, Boeing, Amazon, Google and Bank of America, but the long tail is where most openings are.
Where the openings are
New York had by far the most entry-level posts, roughly three times the next city. Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area, Houston and Atlanta followed, then Boston, Austin, Dallas, Charlotte and Los Angeles. Browse by city: New York, Chicago, Bay Area, Houston, Atlanta, Austin.
By field, sales and business development and finance and accounting each had more entry-level posts than software engineering, followed by customer service, marketing and non-software engineering. If you're open to adjacent roles (sales engineering, financial analysis, IT support), your options grow quickly.
What entry-level jobs pay
Where the post stated a range, the median midpoint was about $80,000 a year for salaried roles and $26 an hour for hourly roles. Pay is listed more often in states with pay transparency laws, such as California, New York, Colorado and Washington, so these numbers lean toward higher-cost areas. Use the range in the post itself when you negotiate: it is the employer's own number.
How to avoid ghost and reposted jobs
Not every post is a real, open job. Patterns we filter out of FirstHire's search submissions, and that you should skip too:
- Reposting agencies. Some accounts post hundreds of generic roles across many cities in a day. Their "apply" link sends you to another job board or a sign-up page, not to an employer.
- Evergreen posts. A role that has been "actively hiring" for months with the same text is often a pipeline, not an opening.
- No employer named. "Confidential company" posts can be real, but the reply rate is low.
- Requests for payment or bank details before an offer. Real employers never charge applicants.
The most reliable signal is simple: the job also appears on the company's own careers site (often a Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby or Workday page).
A routine that works
- Search narrowly. Pick two roles and two or three cities (or remote). Broad searches return the most-applied jobs.
- Apply in the first 48 hours. Most applications to a post arrive in its first few days. Alerts beat daily browsing.
- Tailor the top of your resume. Match the job title and three or four skills from the post; keep it to one page.
- Prefer the employer's own application page when there is one, and keep a record of where and when you applied.
- Follow up once, about a week later, with the recruiter or hiring manager on LinkedIn.
FirstHire handles the searching part: it collects entry-level jobs in the US from LinkedIn and company career sites within minutes of posting, scores how well each matches your resume, and can tailor your resume to a job with AI. Students on F-1 OPT should also read our OPT job search guide.
FAQ
How many entry-level jobs are posted in the US each week?
FirstHire collected more than 8,600 US posts asking for 0–2 years of experience in the first days of October 2026 alone, from almost 4,800 employers. About 57% asked for no prior experience.
Which US city has the most entry-level jobs?
New York, by a wide margin (about three times the next city), followed by Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area, Houston and Atlanta in FirstHire's October 2026 data.
What is a typical entry-level salary in the US?
Among posts that listed pay, the median midpoint was about $80,000 a year for salaried roles and $26 an hour for hourly roles. Posts in pay-transparency states are overrepresented, so typical pay elsewhere may be lower.