lowest cost of living / highest paying (best, state, better, salary)

[leavingcali]

Has anyone done the research regarding which states and/or cities/towns have low cost of living and affordable homes, but still pay well?

Background: I occasionally use those cost of living calculators you can find online, and what I am discovering is that really, it is very expensive and hard to live anywhere. For example, CA has outrageous home prices and cost of living, yet jobs tend to pay pretty well here compared to other states. Other states with low cost of living and housing prices tend to also have low paying jobs, so the cost of living calcuators indicate that in most places, you aren't actually saving any or much money by moving to a lower cost of living area because you aren't making much money either. Do you think the calculators just aren't accurate, or is this a national trend?

If you do have any information on affordable places to live that pay you enough to live there, please please please let me know. Also, if you have found a particularly reliable cost of living calcluator, send that my way too.

Many thanks!!!

[mrdude]

http://www.city-data.com/top5.html

as you can see, there are many places in texas that have a great ratio.

also, birmingham and atlanta can be rather affordable, depending on which suburb you live in.

[leavingcali]

Thanks, Mr. Dude. I found a cost of living calculator from Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed that was more reassuring...don't know how accurate those things are though.

I will check out the link you provided.

[mystree]

Here is one to check out as well

Best Affordable Suburbs - AOL Money & Finance

[RMSmith]

What about coastal communities in Texas? Anyone have any info on this?

[green_mariner]

I would say the Dallas-Ft. Worth area has the lowest cost of living for having high wages. I used to live there and my father made more money in the DFW area than he made in most places he worked.

[BPerone201]

Baltimore, DC area

[uptown_urbanist]

I think it also depends on specific field. The salaries in my field don't seem to vary much, and I have friends who have worked in similar positions in small towns who have made the same (or higher) salary than what I made while living in expensive cities.

I'd disagree with DC, by the way; maybe Baltimore, but in DC the housing is still pretty far out of reach. Places like Wilmington, DE have a better ratio, but for me, personally, my choice is Minneapolis; salaries are pretty good, cost of living is fairly low, and while the ratio might not be as good as in some places it also comes with good public schools, lots of cultural amenities, and other quality of life factors not easily crunched in a simple calculator. We've lived in a lot of different states and cities, but for us and our circumstances (and lifestyle preferences), Minneapolis offers the best bang for the buck.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by BPerone201

Baltimore, DC area

Yeah I'm going to have to disagree too. DC is like one of the most expensive cities in the country. Baltimore is cheaper but only when compared to DC. Really and truly Baltimore is kinda expensive too particularly when compared to southern cities. Also I heard the pay is crappy in Baltimore but I could be wrong.

I'd say that more bang for the buck is going to be in Texas particularly in Houston and San Antonio.

[18Montclair]

MSAs by Average Wage Per Job, 2007(Median Home PriceQ3 2009)
1 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA $81,158($566,000)
2 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT $78,578($398,200)
3 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA $64,731($389,100)
4 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA $64,287($538,100)
5 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV $60,385($324,700)
6 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH $58,891($348,000)
7 Trenton-Ewing, NJ $56,340($291,500)
8 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT $53,771($237,500)
9 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX $52,924($160,600)
10 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA $52,807($321,500)

Actually the SF and SJ are both down from nearly $900,000 so many more families in the Bay Area are able to afford homes these days-that is if they can get a loan. LOL