St. Louis #1 lowest cost of living of 1mil+ cities (Kansas City: real estate, house prices)

[BoomBoxing]

Here's an article that I think will interest the posters here:

Regional Exchange Rates: The Cost of Living in US Metropolitan Areas | Newgeography.com

We harp on how great it is to live in a low COL metro often on here, but this article really drives it home. For example:

Research by the US Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), for example, found that in 2006 a dollar purchased roughly 35 cents less in San Jose than in St. Louis.

That's awesome but it's not even the best part of this article. If you scroll down to personal income per capita, you see that St. Louis comes in the middle of the pack at #18 unadjusted for COL. But if you adjust for cost of living expenses, St. Louis ranks #6 for per capita income.

Low cost of living and proportionately strong incomes definitely contributes to a high quality of life in the area. These are the kinds of things I would point out to entrepreneurs looking for a place to start a business or to a family looking for an affordable place to lay down roots.

[aragx6]

Love it! Thanks so much for posting.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by BoomBoxing

Here's an article that I think will interest the posters here:

Regional Exchange Rates: The Cost of Living in US Metropolitan Areas | Newgeography.com

We harp on how great it is to live in a low COL metro often on here, but this article really drives it home. For example:



That's awesome but it's not even the best part of this article. If you scroll down to personal income per capita, you see that St. Louis comes in the middle of the pack at #18 unadjusted for COL. But if you adjust for cost of living expenses, St. Louis ranks #6 for per capita income.

Low cost of living and proportionately strong incomes definitely contributes to a high quality of life in the area. These are the kinds of things I would point out to entrepreneurs looking for a place to start a business or to a family looking for an affordable place to lay down roots.

That is certainly interesting but it does surprise me a little because I don't think house prices in St. Louis are cheaper than Kansas City, for example, or even Dallas Texas. I had a friend considering moving here from Dallas a year or so ago and he was really searching prices on the internet and felt that Dallas was actually cheaper for housing than STL. And I'm pretty sure KC metro is generally a little cheaper than STL.

In any event, I've always considered the low cost of living to be a great reason to stay here.

[smellykat]

You're right. Real estate is cheaper in KC.

[aragx6]

Really, Dallas? I had a friend buy there and she thought it was significantly more expensive than St. Louis. Probably depends on the specific areas you are looking.

[billiken]

Very interesting--If only they factored in taxes.

[flynavyj]

I could see that, but from experience when folks i knew from St. Louis or Kansas City moved to Dallas, they purchased homes much larger than what they could have afforded in either of those two cities. As far as Kansas City, it is definitely cheaper than St. Louis...In my old city of Olathe, i could find homes in my subdivision that would have sold for 50-100k more in St. Louis, with similar commutes and school districts...all in all, i do believe KC is a little cheaper than St. Louis. Some areas are more comparable, and the most desirable areas of KC could probably run very close to ST. Louie.

[aragx6]

^What would be the comparable area to Olathe in St. Louis? I was thinking somewhere like O'Fallon and I don't see anything near a 50-100k price differential for those places.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by billiken

Very interesting--If only they factored in taxes.

You think St. Louis would rank worse if taxes were factored in? St. Louis' taxes in all but the most desirable locations are what I would consider quite low.

[billiken]

Not saying anything about St Louis dropping in rank because of taxes. Overall, taxes are an important part of the cost of living, and would therefore be useful to include. That said, it'd be very difficult to factor in, considering there's so many different types of tax.