Posted on 03/07/2016 7:48:58 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Listen to the stump speech of any 2016 presidential hopeful and you’ll hear right away about how hard it is for today’s middle class.
A report issued last year by the Pew Charitable Trust’s Stateline found that the middle class shrank in all 50 states between 2000 and 2013, and median income, adjusted for inflation, was lower at the end of 2013 in the vast majority of states than in 2000.
However, the ability to live comfortably on a middle class income varies greatly based on where you live. A new report by California’s Chapman University crunched the numbers to find out which cities are the best for middle class families. The study analyzed local incomes adjusted for cost of living, economic opportunity for middle class jobs, and family friendliness factors such as commute times, housing affordability and net migration of families.
Des Moines, Iowa, ranked number one on the list, thanks to a growing finance sector as well considerable job growth in science, technology, engineering and math jobs. Overall, the economic stability of living in a capital city proved beneficial, with seven state capitals and Washington, D.C., making the top 10 list.
Three California cities -- Fresno, Los Angeles and Stockton -- received the distinction of being ranked as the worst cities for families, according to the report.
10. Ogden, Utah
Like several other Utah cities, Ogden enjoys a strong manufacturing base and growing financial services sector, as well as an influx of tech jobs that have migrated from California. Since the Great Recession, Ogden’s advanced industries have been growing at about 6 percent a year.
9. Omaha, Nebraska
The short commute times (the average is 20 minutes) for workers in Omaha helps contribute to the enviable quality of life enjoyed by middle class families
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
7. Hartford, CT
You’ve got to be kidding me!
NO city is worth living in.
Really?
The whole SLC metroplex looks so bucolic
Ogden is 80% white and only 2% black
Lol
Y’all should try my demographics on for size
I love progress
RE: 7. Hartford, CT
You’ve got to be kidding me!
_____________________________
I’ve only passed by the city and seen it from the highway on my way from NY to Mass.
All I know is it is proliferated with insurance companies. Exactly what’s wrong with this city?
LOL, that list is SUSPICIOUS. I mean, ALBANY. And DC? Middle income people CAN’T afford to live in DC.
CT: state taxes drove GE to MA is all I need to know.
As for me, I’d consider either Ogden UT or Omaha NE. The rest of this list is bogus IMO.
I lived around DC (in Arlington), and can attest that there are a few new neighborhoods near the ballpark, in the $350k way for a 2-3 bedroom. But the whole transportation game, city council corruption, and lack of groceries in DC....make it a non-player. I can’t think of any place within 25-miles of DC that I’d recommend for some family situation.
As for Albany....what jobs exist there? Last I heard....they were having a tough time on unemployment numbers.
Stockton had so many possibilities.
All dashed...
I wouldn’t live in Hartford if they were giving the houses away. Most of the people who work in Hartford commute to work from the surrounding suburbs.
I can’t believe they have Washington, DC area on this list. Affordable for the middle class???? Really???
I know that a number of neighborhoods in the District are gentrifying, and as such, are costly. But then, many middle class would not want to live in the District and send their kids to District public schools.
Perhaps they are considering that housing costs are considerably lower in Prince George’s County, Maryland, than other jurisdictions in the Washington area. But then, normal decent people don’t want to live in Prince George’s County, as it has terrible gang and crime problems, plus dysfunctional public schools.
And the geography of the Washington area is such that, if you live in one area but work in another, your commute to work is likely to be horrendous. Which in my book, is a definite minus if we’re going to talk about quality of life issues. And many in the Washington area can’t afford to live near work, due to high housing costs. It’s a vicious circle.
“No city is worth living in.”
I agree completely!
If someone *gave* me a house and *paid* me I still wouldn’t live in a city.
I wouldn’t even be buried in a city.
Heading should read “These are the ten most liberal cities in the US.
“Minneapolistan”
That’s exactly what I was thinking. They touting high immigration to the twin cities and it’s Muslims. What nutball wrote this list?
BTW Any of these lists should have Pittsburgh, PA and surrounding areas. It has low immigrant levels and fewer ghettos which means that you can have working/middle class white neighborhoods. Median house price is about 40% below the national average. Of course it could also use fewer liberals but every city gets an infestation of those.
When I lived in Arlington, it was a studio apartment, which I felt silly paying $1000 a month for 400 sq ft room, but it was within 8 min by bus to the Pentagon.
I worked with a Army officer who bought a house sixty miles up the road....deep in Maryland rural countryside. He’d chat up the deal....his wife would drop him off at 0’dark-thirty, and he’d catch some train, which would take him into DC, and then he’d Metro over to the Pentagon (75 minutes of traveling).
Writers of articles imagine the imaginary middle class person is most concerned about their mortgage.
Real middle class person is more concerned by;
-Kids getting an education without being shanked in the hallway.
-Living in a neighborhood without a toothless goober cooking meth next door.
-Being able to walk down the street without being mugged or hit by cross-fire.
-Not having even more money stolen by the state to support the shanking, meth-cooking, mugging neighbors.
My thoughts exactly.
When the author, Beth Braverman, was told by her boss to write this article, she replied “I don’t have a clue what the best cities are for the middle class! How should I write this?” Her boss replied “I don’t care which cities you pick, just choose some and run with it.”
our small city of 30,000 is fairly good. Our median income is about $38,000 and our median home price is around $70,000. My son rents a cute 2 bedroom house for $400/month. We have very little crime and it occurs in just certain parts of the city. Of course, I complain of the cold Indiana winters.
Amen. These "City" articles always baffle me. Always tried hard to get as far outside the limits of any large city I happened to be near. Not a hermit, but small towns are far better.
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