But if, baby, I’m the bottom you’re the top!
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Angelenos love a good list. Particularly when we make the No. 1 spot.
Thank you, Forbes, for the honor of being named the worst bang-for-your-buck city in the United States. How’d they figure that out?
‘To find where your money goes farthest, we began by looking at projected job growth through 2012 in the country’s 40 largest U.S. census-defined metropolitan areas with data from Moody’s Economy.com. We then calculated the ratios between each city’s median house price and median household income, using the latest U.S. census figures and data from the National Assn. of Realtors. Next, we compared median income with Moody’s cost-of-living index. Job-growth figures and the ratio of cost of living to income were more heavily weighted to ensure the list showed value, not just cities that are cheap.
‘When accounting for median household income, a house in Dallas, for example -- with a median price of about $150,000 -- is four times more affordable than a house in Los Angeles, the worst-ranked city on our list.’
Austin and San Antonio topped their list of where money stretches furthest based on housing affordability and expected job growth. Meanwhile, Sacramento joined the bottom feeders at 10 among the lucky-to-scrimp-by cities.
--Lauren Beale
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