Although, as we said below, economists aren’t generally predicting great things for Houston in 2009, there is a ray of light: It’s still cheaper to live here than other big cities.
In a report released yesterday detailing how the middle class is abandoning New York City, the Center for an Urban Future lays out just how much it costs to be middle-class across the country.
Middle class in New YorK? You’ll have to be earning $123,322 to afford that lifestyle.
In San Francisco it’s $95,489 and Atlanta $53,630.
Lowest of all the cities included? Houston.
According to the study, you can be middle-class here on just $50,000 a year. That’s lower than Charlotte, for crying out loud, which is apparently a city in one of the Carolinas.
The study looked at housing, utility costs and other factors. It then took Houston as a baseline (which is why we’re the lowest, obvs) and then determined how much money it would take in various cities for a person to live like a Houstonian making $50,000.
The study didn’t take into account Katy Freeway traffic or hurricane power outages, as far as we can tell.
— Richard Connelly
This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2009.