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What are some cities that you would say have a strong job market and a solid salary to cost of living ratio (meaning that not all of your salary has to go towards housing, groceries, etc.)? Bonus points if it's in a beautiful natural setting.
I believe in a national ranking of metro areas, Des Moines, Iowa was the "richest" metro in the country in regards to a very low cost of living, but fairly high salaries due to the fact it's a government and insurance/white collar city.
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The CityLab info is a good start, but as always, it does not tell the whole story.
It boils down to: what is your profession and how much you are making?
Ultra-expensive San Jose is listed as the city "with the most money left over after paying for housing"
It sounds a bit counter-intuitive, but can be explained by the fact that San Jose is the heart of "Silicon Valley" , where legions of tech workers make salaries well into 6 figures.
Good for them, but Heavens forbid you are not in IT industry.. Then your mediocre paycheck (say, $30K/year) will land you strictly in the "working poor" category there, where you'll be sharing an apartment with 3 roommates.
Same for places like San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, NY or Washington-Arlington-Alexandria.
As far as places where $30K\year will still allow you a decent standard of living and, per OP request, with a beautiful natural surroundings, here are my West Coast picks:
-Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, WA
-Corvallis, OR
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