Monday, March 20, 2006

Most and Least Expensive US Cities

UPDATE: Here is the article for Jesus and other interested parties.
===============================================


Below is a list of the 50 most and least expensive metro areas to live in the US. They cities are listed in order.

The dollar value given is, according to CNNMoney.com, "income a couple would need to pay for the same moderately affluent lifestyle in different cities." Why they specify "couple," I cannot explain. I imagine a single person would need the same income to habitate as described.

Legend: Where I live (I literally live at the border). Damn, no wonder I feel so poverty-striken and can't afford to buy a home!

Most expensive:

1. New York (Manhattan) New York $166,777
2. San Francisco California $145,350
3. San Jose California $136,252
4. Honolulu Hawaii $129,729
5. Los Angeles-Long Beach California $126,736
6. Orange County California $124,980

7. Oakland California $123,361
8. San Diego California $121,279
9. Stamford Connecticut $120,522
10. Nassau County New York $120,326
11. New York (Queens) New York $118,285
12. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria District of Columbia $115,198
13. Framingham-Natick Massachusetts $114,913
14. Bergen-Passaic New Jersey $111,855
15. Boston Massachusetts $111,752
16. Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg Maryland $109,484
17. Juneau Alaska $109,147
18. Newark-Elizabeth New Jersey $108,430
19. Middlesex - Monmouth New Jersey $106,010
20. Kodiak Alaska $105,699
21. Fairbanks Alaska $104,325
22. Prince William Virginia $103,896
23. San Bernardino California $103,561
24. Chicago Illinois $103,049
25. Providence Rhode Island $102,548
26. New Haven Connecticut $100,752
27. Philadelphia Pennsylvania $100,456
28. Palm Springs California $100,200
29. Dutchess County New York $98,730
30. Hartford Connecticut $97,371
31. Anchorage Alaska $96,938
32. Fresno California $96,928
33. New London Connecticut $95,928
34. Riverside City California $95,772
35. Glenwood Springs Colorado $95,638
36. Seattle Washington $95,018
37. Los Alamos New Mexico $94,494
38. Burlington-Chittenden Co Vermont $94,493
39. Fort Lauderdale Florida $94,191
40. Baltimore Maryland $94,052
41. Fitchburg-Leominster Massachusetts $93,814
42. Miami-Dade County Florida $92,860
43. Ithaca New York $92,419
44. Dare County North Carolina $92,261
45. Lancaster-Palmdale California $92,196
46. Portland Oregon $92,140
47. Las Vegas Nevada $91,807
48. West Palm Beach Florida $91,789
49. Carson City Nevada $91,631
50. Reno-Sparks Nevada $89,937

Least expensive
(or, 50 cities in which I wouldn't be caught dead living, coincidentally all in red states):

1. McAlester Oklahoma $63,698
2. Cookeville Tennessee $67,756
3. Lancaster South Carolina $68,209
4. Clarksville Tennessee $68,349
5. Conway Arkansas $68,724
6. Joplin Missouri $68,759
7. Pryor Creek Oklahoma $68,777
8. Jonesboro Arkansas $68,837
9. McAllen Texas $69,009
10. Laredo Texas $69,102
11. Salina Kansas $69,154
12. Douglas Georgia $69,432
13. Paris Texas $69,496
14. Palestine-Anderson County Texas $69,799
15. Longview Texas $70,091
16. Harlingen Texas $70,128
17. Amarillo Texas $70,241
18. Fort Smith Arkansas $70,270
19. Lubbock Texas $70,338
20. Tupelo Mississippi $70,409
21. Nevada Missouri $70,424
22. Hot Springs Arkansas $70,553
23. Midland Texas $70,618
24. Seguin Texas $71,053
25. Kingsport Tennessee $71,132
26. Florence Alabama $71,149
27. Hopkinsville Kentucky $71,207
28. Conroe Texas $71,294
29. Odessa Texas $71,328
30. Knoxville Tennessee $71,329
31. Jackson-Madison County Tennessee $71,434
32. Weatherford Texas $71,438
33. Jackson Mississippi $71,464
34. Corpus Christi Texas $71,659
35. Murray Kentucky $71,793
36. Martinsville-Henry County Virginia $71,852
37. Abilene Texas $71,935
38. LaGrange-Troup County Georgia $72,015
39. Hutchinson Kansas $72,190
40. San Angelo Texas $72,214
41. Albany Georgia $72,219
42. Morristown Tennessee $72,221
43. Johnson City Tennessee $72,231
44. Springfield Missouri $72,233
45. Houston Texas $72,237
46. Decatur-Hartselle Alabama $72,284
47. Augusta-Aiken Georgia $72,325
48. Marshall County Alabama $72,371
49. Dothan Alabama $72,468
50. Paducah Kentucky $72,492

Source: CNNMoney.com

25 Comments:

At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 6:44:00 AM, Blogger joy said...

I've lived in four out of five of the most expensive. Haha I'm an idiot!

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 8:04:00 AM, Blogger LA said...

Joy - I've lived in 6 out of the top 10
(New York/Manhattan, Honolulu, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Orange County, Oakland, San Diego) plus #24 (Chicago). I'm happy to see Seattle is down as #36. I was led to believe it was more expensive. It's on my list of relocation cities. I need to break out of the top ten if I'm going to buy a home!

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 8:52:00 AM, Blogger Mike V. said...

alright, we made the top ten again! :P

I'd move to Seattle if they could do something about that rain..

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 8:55:00 AM, Blogger LA said...

Mike - You already own a home, you're in great shape. If I owned, I would never consider relocating.

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 9:47:00 AM, Blogger GetFlix said...

This is a fun list. Manhattan is crazy. I am not familiar with any of the bottom 50.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful, hip areas is Burlington, Vermont. Almost mystical.

What was Hawaii like?

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 6:03:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's too bad that I'm going to sell all my personal belongings and take off to Europe.

...and i SHANT return!

hehe

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 7:40:00 PM, Blogger Mike V. said...

True, young lady, but sometimes one dreams of a different point of view or a relocation.

I love CA too much, though..

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 7:56:00 PM, Blogger PixieGaf said...

My God Texas made the list of least expensive place to live in over 15 times!

Try living in Austin for that cheap LOL!

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 8:31:00 PM, Blogger M-M-M-Mishy said...

Wow, all of the cool cities are crazy expensive!

I just don't know why rural and suburban Texas hasn't caught on as "happening" places to live.

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 9:15:00 PM, Blogger JC said...

I don't get what is the amount for...specifically a home? What exactly does an moderately affluent lifestyle's got to have? According to whom? If I'm not mistaken, this may reflect reality yeah, but it's a bit biased or at least confusing, isn't it?

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 9:35:00 PM, Blogger bird said...

I need to move!

I can stand to leave LA but I can't leave California...and it is expensive everywhere here in the Golden State.

Joy you made me laugh! :) idiot, ha!

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 10:37:00 PM, Blogger LA said...

ffleur - the list is cities or metro areas, the Hamptons is out in the country.

Mike - Touche!

Pix - Some friends of mine are moving to Austin from San Diego in July after school is out. They are doing it solely because of the cost of living in California versus Austin. They have one relative in Austin which is how they found it, but the rest of their family is in California. We'll see how they do!

Jesus - I'll try to find the article again and will link it here for you. Maybe it will answer your questions as to how they made the determinations.

 
At Tuesday, March 21, 2006 11:08:00 PM, Blogger Mike V. said...

I didn't mean that to sound like a comeback or anything.
I just daydream once and a while.
Best place seems to be my desk at work.

Did I tell you I like the hairdo? :)

 
At Wednesday, March 22, 2006 8:14:00 AM, Blogger LA said...

Mike - nah, no explanation necessary, but I'll always take the compliment. ;)

 
At Thursday, March 23, 2006 8:31:00 PM, Blogger JC said...

LA, how kind and toughtful, thanks very much!!! I really find this interesting, now that more less I know how to interpret the amounts, gotta say in my opinion Mexico is probably as expensive as Honolulu Hawai or Los Angeles, that is, just calculating based on my criteria of what a decent standard of living is...

 
At Monday, March 27, 2006 8:21:00 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

I live in Austin but it AINT cheap

 
At Monday, March 27, 2006 8:44:00 AM, Blogger LA said...

Trish - Not saying it's cheap, but you can get a nice house there for a lot less than you can in San Diego. Just saying it's LESS expensive than San Diego and my friends moving there can live BETTER there. :)

 
At Saturday, November 15, 2008 2:53:00 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

hey guys i cant stand these NYC prices
first i wanted 2 live in manhattan but found it expensive then said brooklyn then queens then bronx and so on but u no they r all expensive look i dont wanna live in NYC
ok ?
but i wanna a cheap place near to it like jersey city yonkers any body tell me which is the cheapest areas near NYC and how much will be the prices of the real estate there!!!

 
At Monday, January 26, 2009 6:35:00 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I want to move from Chicago to California (hopefully Long Beach or outside L.A/Hollywood)

Any tips.

I am a photographer and do multimedia (graphic and wed design)
I am 20 the only real reason I haven't packed up and left is I am paying off my Audi TT. Can't risk not being able to not pay off the Audi

 
At Tuesday, January 27, 2009 11:11:00 PM, Blogger LA said...

Angel - My best tip is to live where you have a job. If you can secure employment out here before you make the move, go for it. Housing prices are dropping hard and fast, but jobs aren't plentiful and we're enduring layoffs here just like everywhere else. Our unemployment is up to 9.3 percent. It's horrible.

 
At Tuesday, January 27, 2009 11:47:00 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

LA - Thanks for the tip.

That's my plan to get a job before I move. How is L.A traffic? Is it as bad as they say?

Thank you for the reply

 
At Wednesday, January 28, 2009 7:28:00 AM, Blogger LA said...

Traffic is bad, but that's why you have your Audi, right? ;)

Hopefully, you can find housing and employment in relative proximity to each other or a job that embraces telecommuting.

I lived in Arlington Heights from ages 4-13, BTW. I love Chicago and think Chicagoans are the nicest people on earth. I always thought I would move back, but it hasn't happened yet. You won't miss the winters living here. Or the humidity.

Good luck!

 
At Wednesday, January 28, 2009 7:45:00 AM, Blogger LA said...

Angel - Here's a blog about the L.A. neighborhoods, real estate, and architecture.

http://la.curbed.com/

 
At Wednesday, January 28, 2009 9:45:00 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Haha, something tells me I am going to regret buying a manual car when I move. I didn't plan to be in traffic. Actually I pretty much drive only at night. I work as a media manager for night clubs.

What area has the best clubs?
I was raised surfing in Mexico, so I really wanted to resided where I can surf daily. I wouldn't mind a 30/45 minute drive to L.A or Hollywood to work.

;) Chicagoans are the nicest, You meet so many good people here.
Can i ask why you want to move back?

thanks for the blog's link!

Thank you so much!

In case you have fb or myspace
facebook: Angel Riot Armenta
myspace.com/81566168

 
At Monday, February 02, 2009 6:24:00 PM, Blogger LA said...

Angel - If you were raised surfing and you want to work in LA, then the Westside (Santa Monica/Venice/Playa Del Rey) or South Bay (Manhattan Beach/Hermosa Beach/Redondo Beach) would probably be a good fit for you. There are clubs all over those areas, plus Hollywood. Everywhere really.

I actually don't want to move back to Chicago, I just thought I would when I left. I've lived in So Cal for over 30 years now!

 

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