Best Cities To Live In, By The Numbers

We all want to live our best life, right? Choosing where to live is super important! In a country as big as America we have more choices than we can shake a moving truck at!

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Two of the biggest factors in choosing a home are 1) how much we can earn, and 2) how much does it cost to live there? After all, there’s not much point in living in a beautiful place if your Paycheck doesn’t go far enough, right? So, if you’re open to a change of scenery, here’s some info that will help you know where you might want to look!

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Here are Five Fast Facts on the best places to live in America (according to your wallet):

1. 📈 The Inflation Beast - The unfortunate reality of life right now is that EVERYTHING is more expensive than it used to be. A salary of $75k just 10 years ago is equivalent to a whopping $98k today. That’s just depressing. 😭

2. 😐 The Benchmark - If you look at the whole country, the average salary is just under $62k. Yep, seems pretty average.

3. 💰 High And Low Costs - The state with the highest cost of living is Hawaii, with an average of $55k in normal expenses. The lowest cost of living state is Mississippi with $32k. Is anyone surprised with either of those?

4. 💵 High And Low Salaries - The state with the highest average salary is Massachusetts at just under $77k. The lowest average salary state is Mississippi with $45k. No word yet on whether they’re renaming Mississippi the Budget State.

5. 💸 Most Disposable - The state with the most disposable income – money left over after the cost of living is paid – is New York, with about $25k. That’s a pretty good chunk of “fun money!”

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🔥Bottom line: It’s all about finding the right balance - where can you earn enough money to sustain the lifestyle you want? The key is to find the things you want to live around (culture, climate, activities, etc.) where you can earn what you need to and have a bit left over to enjoy. Generally speaking, states on the coasts have higher income but are also more expensive to live in. You could bag a huge win by finding a specific city that offers the best of both worlds. Some that might be worth checking out are Hartford, San Diego, and Baltimore. All have higher than average wages and lower cost of living.

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What do you think is the right way to balance these things?

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