Which Cities Stretch Dollars The Farthest?

Texas cities top a ranking by Forbes of where your dollar goes the farthest. Affordable housing and promising job prospects made a big difference.

1 minute read

October 18, 2008, 11:00 AM PDT

By Larry Schooler


"'Texas, as a whole, is one of the few economies that's performing extremely well because of the energy and technology sectors,'" says Andrew Gledhill, an economist at Moody's Economy.com. Plus, he added, military bases in San Antonio have continued to draw a steady steam of personnel and federal employees to the city, spurring widespread job growth.

The state's manufacturing sector has also grown in recent years, and a reputation for affordable housing continues to lure people to the South. 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.

A house in New York is three times less affordable than in Charlotte, N.C., and four times less than in Denver, two cities where your money goes far and where the median house costs $245,000, according to the National Association of Realtors."

Friday, October 10, 2008 in Forbes

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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