The top 15 cities in America where you can live like royalty on a $60,000 salary
Looking to do better in the year ahead? That may simply boil down to where you choose to live.
The best places are likely the ones where you can find a job, earn a good salary and buy a nice home. In a 2016 report, job-hunting site Glassdoor calculated the top spots where your pay will go furthest, based on salaries and home values. The jobs site came up with a cost of living ratio — a city's median base salary divided by its median home value. (A higher ratio number is better.)
Noticeably missing are some of America's biggest cities. While you can certainly earn more in hubs like New York and San Francisco, fewer people can afford to buy a house or an apartment there.
Here are the top 15 places where an average paycheck goes a very long way and the quality of life is great (even without a view of the Golden Gate).
15. Atlanta
Cost of living ratio: 37%
Median base salary: $60,000
Median home value: $163,000
Number of open jobs: 90,739
14. Columbus, Ohio
Cost of living ratio: 37%
Median base salary: $57,000
Median home value: $154,600
Number of open jobs: 30,728
13. Oklahoma City
Cost of living ratio: 38%
Median base salary: $50,000
Median home value: $132,500
Number of open jobs: 16,388
12. Houston
Cost of living ratio: 38%
Median base salary: $65,000
Median home value: $172,100
Number of open jobs: 72,033
11. Buffalo, NY
Cost of living ratio: 39%
Median base salary: $50,000
Median home value: $128,100
Number of open jobs: 13,599
10. Louisville, Ky
Cost of living ratio: 39%
Median base salary: $54,000
Median home value: $137,500
Number of open jobs: 22,693
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
8. Birmingham, Ala
Cost of living ratio: 40%
Median base salary: $50,800
Median home value: $128,000
Number of open jobs: 15,299
7. Cincinnati
Cost of living ratio: 40%
Median base salary: $57,179
Median home value: $143,400
Number of open jobs: 32,605
6. St. Louis
Cost of living ratio: 40%
Median base salary: $56,896
Median home value: $141,900
Number of open jobs: 35,300
5. Indianapolis
Cost of living ratio: 43%
Median base salary: $56,000
Median home value: $130,200
Number of open jobs: 33,090
4. Cleveland
Cost of living ratio: 44%
Median base salary: $55,000
Median home value: $125,500
Number of open jobs: 29,304
3. Pittsburgh
Cost of living ratio: 45%
Median base salary: $56,896
Median home value: $126,700
Number of open jobs: 46,379
2. Memphis, Tenn
Cost of living ratio: 46%
Median base salary: $52,000
Median home value: $112,100
Number of open jobs: 17,982
1. Detroit
Cost of living ratio: 50%
Median base salary: $61,500
Median home value: $123,100
Number of open jobs: 54,808
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