The affordability of daily life in the United States has been teetering, and falling, over the last decade or so. It has only been exacerbated under the last four years of the Biden Administration, with rent, grocery, and gas prices all skyrocketing. Meanwhile, everyone's paychecks have all stayed the same. It has created a cost-of-living crisis in most places, but some have remained mostly unscathed.
A new survey from Bankrate shows that San Antonio came in as one of the only large metros in which average worker's buying power grew after adjusting for cost of living. They are joined only by St. Louis, Charlotte, and Detroit on the list.
KTRH money man Pat Shinn says the Alamo City has become a hot spot for younger people.
"You need $97,000 in San Francisco to equal the same purchasing power as $77,000 will get you in San Antonio," he says.
It comes as no surprise that the least affordable cities came from the Democrat stronghold of California. Los Angeles and San Francisco ranked near the bottom of lost wages, along with Seattle, New York, and Miami. For example, the average worker in Los Angeles makes $73,000 a year, but when adjusting for the cost of living there, those wages are worth about $63,000.
Meanwhile Houston came in on the right side of average. The city is not at the bottom of the list or at the top. Houston has stayed consistent and is still a hot spot to live.
In fact, on Bankrate's list, it is the top three most popular place for people ages 25 to 44.
"More people are moving to Houston than almost anywhere else...it has been known for a while as one of the least expensive big cities on the list," he says. "Number one was San Antonio, number two was Tampa Bay, and number three was Houston."
The stats show that Houston grew 2.3 percent from 2022 to 2023 for that specific age group, just slightly behind the other two cities.
Photo: Michael Warren / E+ / Getty Images