10 Expensive Cities That Are Surprisingly Affordable for the Middle Class
Written by
Josephine Nesbit
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Middle- and lower-income households are experiencing the best living standards in some of the most expensive U.S. cities, according to a new economic study of metro areas.
The Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP) ranked the 50 biggest U.S. metro areas based on the economic well-being of middle- and working-class residents, finding that higher prices in the highest-ranking cities were offset by higher wages. The study tracked price change for essential items — like housing, food and child care — and compared them with the median weekly incomes of all members of the workforce.
The study explained that one similarity between the best-performing cities is that they typically have an equal mix of jobs across the pay spectrum.
“Across the nation we are seeing both ends of the spectrum — communities where middle- and working-class families are faring well and others where financial survival remains a struggle,” said Gene Ludwig, head of the institute and a former US comptroller of the currency, as reported by Bloomberg.
Still, middle- and lower-income Americans across the U.S. aren’t doing well, Ludwig told CBS MoneyWatch. The report noted that approximately 60% of Americans struggle to make ends meet, with their incomes falling short of nearly $14,000 in 2022 on average.
But in places like San Jose and San Francisco, higher wages make up for the higher cost of living. Ludwig researchers also looked at how much money a median earner has left over after purchasing essentials each month. Here are the results from the study, including the percentage of household income left over:
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA: 25.4%
- Austin-Round Rock, TX: 25.2%
- Washington, D.C./MD/VA: 22.1%
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA: 18.2%
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA: 17.3%
- Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI: 16.7%
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN/WI: 16.6%
- Tucson, AZ: 16.6%
- Baltimore-Towson-Columbia, MD: 16.4%
- Jacksonville, FL: 16.3%
The cities at the bottom of the list, including New York City and Los Angeles, usually had a higher share of low-paying jobs. According to the report, nearly two-thirds of workers in Las Vegas are in low-wage occupations, while in Miami, 56% of workers are in low-paying jobs. The national average is about 35%, but the best-performing cities have much lower figures.
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