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It also for the 51 biggest metros in the country. For instance, the area I live in has an annual pay average just $1000 less than Charlotte and with a similar, if not lower overall cost of living. So, if that list went up to top 100 metros, the list is probably different than this one is.
This is also based on average -- not median -- pay. I'd be much more interested in seeing how these metros stack up based on median pay, since some metros' average pay is inflated by small populations of very highly paid executives.
I do not believe that Seattle makes this list AT ALL, specifically because the housing is easily 2X what it is in the other cities listed. I realize that only adds maybe 15% to your total monthly cost of living via your mortgage/rent, and Seattle has a very high median household income, but everything else there is expensive too (i.e. not "affordable").
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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IMO, St. Louis and Cleveland are both pretty decent. The cost of living is pretty low and the salaries are reasonable.
However, in terms of really good deals, Texas can really make the list, especially if you're a pharmacist, accountant, etc. You get paid a pretty high salary while not paying much at all for living. Last time I checked, Texas was extremely cheap to live in.
IMO, St. Louis and Cleveland are both pretty decent. The cost of living is pretty low and the salaries are reasonable.
However, in terms of really good deals, Texas can really make the list, especially if you're a pharmacist, accountant, etc. You get paid a pretty high salary while not paying much at all for living. Last time I checked, Texas was extremely cheap to live in.
Yep, although the "secret is out", so to speak, and I think either COL will increase or salaries will decrease (overabundance of supply -- people with resumes), or both, as market forces continue to change.
The fact that San Jose and Seattle are on this list means that the article's credibility is practically non-existent. This is a joke. I can understand the other cities, but San Jose and Seattle (despite being high income areas) have among the country's highest cost of living and the high incomes only somewhat compensate for that.
San Jose average annual wage $92,000. That does a lot of adjusting considering most of the list is around $50k. Also, San Jose isn't really all that desirable, it's the crappy part of the South Bay. It's not like Mountain View or worse yet Palo Alto where the only thing you can find under a million is little shacks best suited for being torn down.
Houston? Are you kidding me? When I lived there as a child, my dad ended up going to California for a better job because he couldn't find anything decent in Texas (computer programmer btw). Mum and I stayed in Texas until we could afford a house in California though. This was only 5-10 years ago mind you, I'd be surprised if things have really changed THAT much.
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