Top 25 cities where your paycheck goes furthest
There are scores of reasons to choose a city, and even more reasons a city can choose you. Unique combinations of family, employment, dreams, lifestyle, weather, and matters of the heart—just to name a few—often dictate where you live, and they’re often tied to emotions.
But what if you could keep your decision-making in the strictly rational realms? This is the crux of a new report by Glassdoor that looks at the top 25 cities in the United States where your paycheck would go furthest.
Taking the US Office of Management and Budget’s list of 50 largest cities (or metropolitan areas in some cases), Glassdoor compared its median base salary information to its median home price, since real estate is a convenient proxy for cost of living as a person’s biggest expenditure.
Not surprisingly, the list is one of the few things not dominated by large coastal cities. Detroit, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Indianapolis, rounded out the top five. Conspicuously off the list were New York, Boston, and San Francisco, which boasted an 11% cost of living ratio of median base salary to home value. Detroit, on the other hand, has a ratio of 50%, meaning a year’s median base salary comes to half the median value of a home.
1. Detroit, MI
Cost of Living Ratio: 50%
Median Base Salary: $61,500
Median Home Value: $123,100
Number of Open Jobs: 54,808
2. Memphis, TN
Cost of Living Ratio: 46%
Median Base Salary: $52,000
Median Home Value: $112,100
Number of Open Jobs: 17,982
3. Pittsburgh, PA
Cost of Living Ratio: 45%
Median Base Salary: $56,896
Median Home Value: $126,700
Number of Open Jobs: 46,379
4. Cleveland, OH
Cost of Living Ratio: 44%
Median Base Salary: $55,000
Median Home Value: $125,500
Number of Open Jobs: 29,304
5. Indianapolis, IN
Cost of Living Ratio: 43%
Median Base Salary: $56,000
Median Home Value: $130,200
Number of Open Jobs: 33,090
6. St. Louis, MO
Cost of Living Ratio: 40%
Median Base Salary: $56,896
Median Home Value: $141,900
Number of Open Jobs: 35,300
7. Cincinnati, OH
Cost of Living Ratio: 40%
Median Base Salary: $57,179
Median Home Value: $143,400
Number of Open Jobs: 32,605
8. Birmingham, AL
Cost of Living Ratio: 40%
Median Base Salary: $50,800
Median Home Value: $128,000
Number of Open Jobs: 15,299
9. Kansas City, MO
Cost of Living Ratio: 39%
Median Base Salary: $58,000
Median Home Value: $147,500
Number of Open Jobs: 35,639
10. Louisville, KY
Cost of Living Ratio: 39%
Median Base Salary: $54,000
Median Home Value: $137,500
Number of Open Jobs: 22,693
11. Buffalo, NY
Cost of Living Ratio: 39%
Median Base Salary: $50,000
Median Home Value: $128,100
Number of Open Jobs: 13,599
12. Houston, TX
Cost of Living Ratio: 38%
Median Base Salary: $65,000
Median Home Value: $172,100
Number of Open Jobs: 72,033
13. Oklahoma City, OK
Cost of Living Ratio: 38%
Median Base Salary: $50,000
Median Home Value: $132,500
Number of Open Jobs: 16,388
14. Columbus, OH
Cost of Living Ratio: 37%
Median Base Salary: $57,000
Median Home Value: $154,600
Number of Open Jobs: 30,728
15. Atlanta, GA
Cost of Living Ratio: 37%
Median Base Salary: $60,000
Median Home Value: $163,000
Number of Open Jobs: 90,739
16. San Antonio, TX
Cost of Living Ratio: 37%
Median Base Salary: $55,000
Median Home Value: $150,200
Number of Open Jobs: 28,378
17. Charlotte, NC
Cost of Living Ratio: 36%
Median Base Salary: $58,000
Median Home Value: $159,800
Number of Open Jobs: 37,180
18. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Cost of Living Ratio: 33%
Median Base Salary: $61,000
Median Home Value: $182,100
Number of Open Jobs: 121,241
19. Chicago, IL
Cost of Living Ratio: 33%
Median Base Salary: $63,000
Median Home Value: $193,800
Number of Open Jobs: 155,173
20. Tampa, FL
Cost of Living Ratio: 32%
Median Base Salary: $52,000
Median Home Value: $163,600
Number of Open Jobs: 40,830
21. Hartford, CT
Cost of Living Ratio: 32%
Median Base Salary: $68,000
Median Home Value: $215,800
Number of Open Jobs: 19,025
22. Richmond, VA
Cost of Living Ratio: 31%
Median Base Salary: $59,800
Median Home Value: $191,500
Number of Open Jobs: 21,454
23. Jacksonville, FL
Cost of Living Ratio: 30%
Median Base Salary: $50,000
Median Home Value: $165,900
Number of Open Jobs: 18,205
24. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Cost of Living Ratio: 30%
Median Base Salary: $65,000
Median Home Value: $219,400
Number of Open Jobs: 64,026
25. Raleigh-Durham, NC
Cost of Living Ratio: 30%
Median Base Salary: $62,000
Median Home Value: $209,400
Number of Open Jobs: 22,339
And for fun, here are some cities that did not make the cut.
New York, NY
Cost of Living Ratio: 18%
Median Base Salary: $70,000
Median Home Value: $384,100
Number of Open Jobs: 250,795
Boston, MA
Cost of Living Ratio: 17%
Median Base Salary: $67,500
Median Home Value: $387,400
Number of Open Jobs: 109,395
San Francisco, CA
Cost of Living Ratio: 11%
Median Base Salary: $88,000
Median Home Value: $806,600
Number of Open Jobs: 103,513
