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For those not interested in looking at all 381, here's a brief MarketWatch article that also includes a chart delineating the 20 most expensive and 20 least expensive areas.
The ranking of 381 metro areas by cost of living is very interesting and useful, especially as compared to most best/worst for retirement lists posted in this Retirement Forum because:
1. Only one factor is involved - cost of living. No attempt is made to mix in other factors for some sort of overall ranking, which in my opinion results in strange and problematic results. No claim is made as to whether cost of living does, or does not, equate to desirability as a retirement location.
2. The ranking is by metro areas, not states. Trying to assign any kind of ranking to states is problematic, as has been discussed in this forum quite often.
Some random observations on my part:
Boston is 16th - I had expected it to be higher. Los Angeles is tied for 10th - consistent with previous cost of living lists I have seen. California has 9 of the highest 20 metro areas - no surprise there. Two California Bay Area locations are more expensive than San Francisco itself - I had not expected that. The 20 lowest cost metro areas are clustered mostly but not entirely in the southeast (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky) - no surprise there.
These list always make me chuckle. I think there should be some range of sizes metro areas they compare (within some kind of range). To compare Danville Il and NYC is ridiculous IMHO. Why not Metamora IL or even smaller towns. Of course the cost is going to be less in a tiny town.
These list always make me chuckle. I think there should be some range of sizes metro areas they compare (within some kind of range). To compare Danville Il and NYC is ridiculous IMHO. Why not Metamora IL or even smaller towns. Of course the cost is going to be less in a tiny town.
Aren't you missing the point of the list? Tiny towns are not "metro areas". The comparison is among metro areas, not among all conceivable places a person could live in the U.S., which would probably be an impossibly large task. I do agree with you to this extent: An additional column in the list with the approximate population of each metro area would add some interest. I would predict that there would be a positive, but weak, correlation between population size of a metro area and cost of living.
Thanks. That's very helpful. My relo plan would move me from near the top of the list to around the middle.
We took the opposite approach by re-locating from Houston (52) to Philadelphia (20). Building careers in a less expensive Houston allowed us to sock away cash so we could pick where we wanted to live when the time came. While more expensive, our quality of living took a giant step by re-locating.
I've generally found you get what you pay for. Our move to Philly is no exception.
Well, we have lived for many years in the area ranked 7th most expensive, and since we have no interest in moving to any of the areas ranked 1 through 6, chances are good that wherever we move to will be less expensive than here.
Aren't you missing the point of the list? Tiny towns are not "metro areas". The comparison is among metro areas, not among all conceivable places a person could live in the U.S., which would probably be an impossibly large task. I do agree with you to this extent: An additional column in the list with the approximate population of each metro area would add some interest. I would predict that there would be a positive, but weak, correlation between population size of a metro area and cost of living.
Get your points and are valid.
Just saying the calling Danville IL a "metro area" and comparing it to SF or NYC is kind of a stretch IMHO.
Is is fun to compare, none the less.................
Went from the top 20 to 140. Bada Bing and life is good
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