is Texas the best state in the US? (1 Viewer)

[Major]

Living in Houston. Its been at least 3 months since Ive been able to be outside for an extended period of time.

you're a p***y

Interesting.

Sorry bruh, i only deal in fact.

 

[Porkchop Express]

Living in Houston. Its been at least 3 months since Ive been able to be outside for an extended period of time.

you're a p***y

Interesting.

Sorry bruh, i only deal in fact.

You bring up a positive thing about the weather, at least if you cant be outside you arent exposed to as many ######## Texans.

 

[Major]

Living in Houston. Its been at least 3 months since Ive been able to be outside for an extended period of time.

you're a p***y

Interesting.

Sorry bruh, i only deal in fact.

You bring up a positive thing about the weather, at least if you cant be outside you arent exposed to as many ######## Texans.

Dude, it's not hard. Wake up early, enjoy the morning. 10-7pm stay the f inside. 7-2am, enjoy the night. Rinse and repeat.

 

[drummer]

Dealing with hot weather just means you have to cool off in a bar.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Living in Houston. Its been at least 3 months since Ive been able to be outside for an extended period of time.

you're a p***y

Interesting.

Sorry bruh, i only deal in fact.

You bring up a positive thing about the weather, at least if you cant be outside you arent exposed to as many ######## Texans.

Dude, it's not hard. Wake up early, enjoy the morning. 10-7pm stay the f inside. 7-2am, enjoy the night. Rinse and repeat.

Sounds like heaven.

 

[tommyGunZ]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

I think this is the best argument for Houston. This was pretty much the entire theme of the article bb posted.

Of course the "you can live like a king on a relatively low salary" is a very slippery slope.

 

[Clifford]

NY has NYC, CA has SF and maybe SD, CO has Denver/mountains, LA has Nola, Texas has Houston and Austin plus low taxes and cheap land. You gotta deal with an ignorant Gov. but as long as you stay in 713 or 512, you good.

Comparing Houston and Austin to NYC, SF, and SD? Insane.

And somehow leaving out LA, plus the entire coastline.

 

[NutterButter]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

I think this is the best argument for Houston. This was pretty much the entire theme of the article bb posted.

Of course the "you can live like a king on a relatively low salary" is a very slippery slope.

as long as you do it indoors for 6 months of the year

 

[Henry Ford]

Living in Houston. Its been at least 3 months since Ive been able to be outside for an extended period of time.

you're a p***y

Say what you want about Texas, it's the people who really give the state its ranking.

 

[tommyGunZ]

NY has NYC, CA has SF and maybe SD, CO has Denver/mountains, LA has Nola, Texas has Houston and Austin plus low taxes and cheap land. You gotta deal with an ignorant Gov. but as long as you stay in 713 or 512, you good.

Comparing Houston and Austin to NYC, SF, and SD? Insane.

And somehow leaving out LA, plus the entire coastline.

It's not really fair to put CA in these arguments. These "best state" debates should really be "best state other than CA". It's science.

 

[matuski]

This thread became much more awesome over the last couple pages.

 

[Christo]

This thread became much more awesome over the last couple pages.

The best part is the Texicans are serious.

 

[Dutch Kincade]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

 

[bigbottom]

Living in Houston. Its been at least 3 months since Ive been able to be outside for an extended period of time.

How long have you been here. It takes a good 3 years to acclimate.

Since October. Cant remember a day where its been under 85, most of the time in the low to mid 90's. Makes doing anything outdoors pretty taxing. Ive heard it takes time to acclimate so I hope it gets better. Also this non-step air conditioning is wreaking havoc on my sinuses and lungs. Already had bronchitis and a sinus infection.

That seems pretty awful.

Houston gets hot in the summer.Up until about mid-May the weather was splendid.

Maybe by Houston standards 85+ since Oct is splendid.

 

[bigbottom]

NY has NYC, CA has SF and maybe SD, CO has Denver/mountains, LA has Nola, Texas has Houston and Austin plus low taxes and cheap land. You gotta deal with an ignorant Gov. but as long as you stay in 713 or 512, you good.

Comparing Houston and Austin to NYC, SF, and SD? Insane.

And somehow leaving out LA, plus the entire coastline.

It's not really fair to put CA in these arguments. These "best state" debates should really be "best state other than CA". It's science.

Hard to beat Cali in terms of weather and beauty. Will probably retire there. But cost of living, ####ed up economy, and broken government is really opening the door for a few other states to make a run at the top spot.

 

[ncc2]

I was only in Texas during AF Training for a few weeks. All I really got is it seemed chock full of hot women.

 

[tommyGunZ]

NY has NYC, CA has SF and maybe SD, CO has Denver/mountains, LA has Nola, Texas has Houston and Austin plus low taxes and cheap land. You gotta deal with an ignorant Gov. but as long as you stay in 713 or 512, you good.

Comparing Houston and Austin to NYC, SF, and SD? Insane.

And somehow leaving out LA, plus the entire coastline.

It's not really fair to put CA in these arguments. These "best state" debates should really be "best state other than CA". It's science.

Hard to beat Cali in terms of weather and beauty. Will probably retire there. But cost of living, ####ed up economy, and broken government is really opening the door for a few other states to make a run at the top spot.

COL is definitely a drawback, as is the idiotic proposition system.

Having SF, LA, and SD all in one state makes CA difficult to beat. And as you know, there are a ton of little coastal towns/cities from Diego to the Bay that are absolutely gorgeous. Proximity to Vegas ($79 1 hour flights) and Hawaii are also clutch.

 

[Abraham]

Tennessee and Alaska seem really low.

Indiana, Ohio and Florida too high.

Mississippi and Arkansas appear higher than I expected as well.

 

[pantagrapher]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

Not to mention all the awesomeness of Texas. I'll put our BBQ, Tex-Mex, Blue Bell, Shiner Bock, Whole Foods, breastesses, guns, oil, hospitals, taxes etc against whatever you got.

Man, I don't understand Texan's pride when it comes to Shiner Bock. It's a step above swill. It's resoundingly unremarkable. They used to use colorant to make it look "dark" (not sure if they still do). I get that certain local beers evoke a place and people can get nostalgic about stuff like that. But Shiner isn't that much better than Lone Star.

And there's no way in hell you put that up against some of the beers out of California, Wisconsin, and Washington.

 

[pantagrapher]

Dealing with hot weather just means you have to cool off in a bar.

Don't bars in Texas close at 2? And no liquor on Sundays? And ####, there were DRY AREAS around Dallas and Unicards or some such. Lame.

 

[Christo]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

Not to mention all the awesomeness of Texas. I'll put our BBQ, Tex-Mex, Blue Bell, Shiner Bock, Whole Foods, breastesses, guns, oil, hospitals, taxes etc against whatever you got.

Man, I don't understand Texan's pride when it comes to Shiner Bock. It's a step above swill. It's resoundingly unremarkable. They used to use colorant to make it look "dark" (not sure if they still do). I get that certain local beers evoke a place and people can get nostalgic about stuff like that. But Shiner isn't that much better than Lone Star.

And there's no way in hell you put that up against some of the beers out of California, Wisconsin, and Washington.

I wouldn't go that far.

 

[Christo]

Dealing with hot weather just means you have to cool off in a bar.

Don't bars in Texas close at 2? And no liquor on Sundays? And ####, there were DRY AREAS around Dallas and Unicards or some such. Lame.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/28814191/dallas-wet-dry-map-alcohol-sales

 

[Major]

Dealing with hot weather just means you have to cool off in a bar.

Don't bars in Texas close at 2? And no liquor on Sundays? And ####, there were DRY AREAS around Dallas and Unicards or some such. Lame.

All the bars and parties I go to serve way past 2. But yes, the law is 2. And plenty of bars serve liquor on Sundays if the well at your casa runs out.

 

[moleculo]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

Not to mention all the awesomeness of Texas. I'll put our BBQ, Tex-Mex, Blue Bell, Shiner Bock, Whole Foods, breastesses, guns, oil, hospitals, taxes etc against whatever you got.

Man, I don't understand Texan's pride when it comes to Shiner Bock. It's a step above swill. It's resoundingly unremarkable. They used to use colorant to make it look "dark" (not sure if they still do). I get that certain local beers evoke a place and people can get nostalgic about stuff like that. But Shiner isn't that much better than Lone Star.

And there's no way in hell you put that up against some of the beers out of California, Wisconsin, and Washington.

or Colorado. or North Carolina. Or Oregon. Or pretty much anywhere with a vibrant craft brew scene.

 

[cstu]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

An average house price of $176k - nearly half that of California.

 

[moleculo]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

An average house price of $176k - nearly half that of California.

now compare median salaries.

 

[moleculo]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

IMO, saying there are lots of people living there goes in the "dislike" column.

 

[drummer]

Dealing with hot weather just means you have to cool off in a bar.

Don't bars in Texas close at 2? And no liquor on Sundays? And ####, there were DRY AREAS around Dallas and Unicards or some such. Lame.

I don't live in Texas.

 

[Buckfast 1]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

Not to mention all the awesomeness of Texas. I'll put our BBQ, Tex-Mex, Blue Bell, Shiner Bock, Whole Foods, breastesses, guns, oil, hospitals, taxes etc against whatever you got.

Shiner Bock.

I'll give Texas BBQ and Tex-Mex food, but outside of those two things, I have a hard time seeing what could possibly make Texas the best state in the U.S.

 

[bigbottom]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

An average house price of $176k - nearly half that of California.

now compare median salaries.

Some good info here regarding major markets:

When we think of places with high salaries, big metro areas like New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco are usually the first to spring to mind. Or cities with the biggest concentrations of educated workers, such as Boston.But wages are just one part of the equation — high prices in those East and West Coast cities mean the fat paychecks aren’t necessarily getting the locals ahead. When cost of living is factored in, most of the places that boast the highest effective pay turn out to be in the less celebrated and less expensive middle part of the country. My colleague Mark Schill of Praxis Strategy Group and I looked at the average annual wages in the nation’s 51 largest metropolitan statistical areas and adjusted incomes by the cost of living. The results were surprising and revealing.

In first place is Houston, where the average annual wage in 2011 was $59,838, eighth highest in the nation. What puts Houston at the top of the list is the region’s relatively low cost of living, which includes such things as consumer prices and services, utilities and transportation costs and, most importantly, housing prices: The ratio of the median home price to median annual household income in Houston is only 2.9, remarkably low for such a dynamic urban region; in San Francisco a house goes for 6.7 times the median local household income. Adjusted for cost of living, the average Houston wage of $59,838 is worth $66,933, tops in the nation.

Most of the rest of the top 10 are relatively buoyant economies with relatively low costs of living. These include Dallas-Fort Worth (fifth), Charlotte, N.C. (sixth), Cincinnati (seventh), Austin, Texas (eighth), and Columbus, Ohio (10th). These areas all also have housing affordability rates below 3.0 except for Austin, which clocks in at 3.5. Similar situations down the list include such mid-sized cities as Nashville, (11th), St.Louis (12th), Pittsburgh, (13th), Denver (15th) and New Orleans (16th).

 

[bigbottom]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

An average house price of $176k - nearly half that of California.

now compare median salaries.

This U.S. Census link has the following overall median household income numbers:

California: $65,476

Texas: $58,016

I imagine that CA state income tax may narrow the gap some in terms of take home pay.

 

[moleculo]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

An average house price of $176k - nearly half that of California.

now compare median salaries.

Some good info here regarding major markets:

When we think of places with high salaries, big metro areas like New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco are usually the first to spring to mind. Or cities with the biggest concentrations of educated workers, such as Boston.But wages are just one part of the equation — high prices in those East and West Coast cities mean the fat paychecks aren’t necessarily getting the locals ahead. When cost of living is factored in, most of the places that boast the highest effective pay turn out to be in the less celebrated and less expensive middle part of the country. My colleague Mark Schill of Praxis Strategy Group and I looked at the average annual wages in the nation’s 51 largest metropolitan statistical areas and adjusted incomes by the cost of living. The results were surprising and revealing.

In first place is Houston, where the average annual wage in 2011 was $59,838, eighth highest in the nation. What puts Houston at the top of the list is the region’s relatively low cost of living, which includes such things as consumer prices and services, utilities and transportation costs and, most importantly, housing prices: The ratio of the median home price to median annual household income in Houston is only 2.9, remarkably low for such a dynamic urban region; in San Francisco a house goes for 6.7 times the median local household income. Adjusted for cost of living, the average Houston wage of $59,838 is worth $66,933, tops in the nation.

Most of the rest of the top 10 are relatively buoyant economies with relatively low costs of living. These include Dallas-Fort Worth (fifth), Charlotte, N.C. (sixth), Cincinnati (seventh), Austin, Texas (eighth), and Columbus, Ohio (10th). These areas all also have housing affordability rates below 3.0 except for Austin, which clocks in at 3.5. Similar situations down the list include such mid-sized cities as Nashville, (11th), St.Louis (12th), Pittsburgh, (13th), Denver (15th) and New Orleans (16th).

so what you are saying is they have to pay people more to make up for having to live in Houston.

 

[bigbottom]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

An average house price of $176k - nearly half that of California.

now compare median salaries.

Some good info here regarding major markets:

When we think of places with high salaries, big metro areas like New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco are usually the first to spring to mind. Or cities with the biggest concentrations of educated workers, such as Boston.

But wages are just one part of the equation high prices in those East and West Coast cities mean the fat paychecks arent necessarily getting the locals ahead. When cost of living is factored in, most of the places that boast the highest effective pay turn out to be in the less celebrated and less expensive middle part of the country. My colleague Mark Schill of Praxis Strategy Group and I looked at the average annual wages in the nations 51 largest metropolitan statistical areas and adjusted incomes by the cost of living. The results were surprising and revealing.

In first place is Houston, where the average annual wage in 2011 was $59,838, eighth highest in the nation. What puts Houston at the top of the list is the regions relatively low cost of living, which includes such things as consumer prices and services, utilities and transportation costs and, most importantly, housing prices: The ratio of the median home price to median annual household income in Houston is only 2.9, remarkably low for such a dynamic urban region; in San Francisco a house goes for 6.7 times the median local household income. Adjusted for cost of living, the average Houston wage of $59,838 is worth $66,933, tops in the nation.

Most of the rest of the top 10 are relatively buoyant economies with relatively low costs of living. These include Dallas-Fort Worth (fifth), Charlotte, N.C. (sixth), Cincinnati (seventh), Austin, Texas (eighth), and Columbus, Ohio (10th). These areas all also have housing affordability rates below 3.0 except for Austin, which clocks in at 3.5. Similar situations down the list include such mid-sized cities as Nashville, (11th), St.Louis (12th), Pittsburgh, (13th), Denver (15th) and New Orleans (16th).

so what you are saying is they have to pay people more to make up for having to live in Houston.

You asked for salary info and I provided a couple links with data on the subject.

 

[bigbottom]

in San Francisco a house goes for 6.7 times the median local household income.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this statistic, but wow. I guess that's what they mean when they say house poor.

 

[drummer]

in San Francisco a house goes for 6.7 times the median local household income.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this statistic, but wow. I guess that's what they mean when they say house poor.

The dot com boom back in the 90's really screwed things up there. That was when guys in their 20's with skateboards had cash to burn. Tech industry is gentrifying that city hard. A regular 3 bedroom home worth $500k elsewhere in the US is $1.5 Mil in the Sunset District in SF.

 

[Fennis]

Tennessee and Alaska seem really low.

Indiana, Ohio and Florida too high.

Mississippi and Arkansas appear higher than I expected as well.

 

[Dutch Kincade]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

IMO, saying there are lots of people living there goes in the "dislike" column.

This whole argument is subjective at best, but one area I would start to think would be a point of objectiveness is the idea that areas that people are flocking to are popular (for businesses and families). I am sorry to hear that you don't like a crowd. That argument would be based around density numbers, of which Texas would fair very well in as well.

 

[Abraham]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

Not to mention all the awesomeness of Texas. I'll put our BBQ, Tex-Mex, Blue Bell, Shiner Bock, Whole Foods, breastesses, guns, oil, hospitals, taxes etc against whatever you got.

Man, I don't understand Texan's pride when it comes to Shiner Bock. It's a step above swill. It's resoundingly unremarkable. They used to use colorant to make it look "dark" (not sure if they still do). I get that certain local beers evoke a place and people can get nostalgic about stuff like that. But Shiner isn't that much better than Lone Star.

And there's no way in hell you put that up against some of the beers out of California, Wisconsin, and Washington.

or Colorado. or North Carolina. Or Oregon. Or pretty much anywhere with a vibrant craft brew scene.

Shiner isn't a craft beer. Texas has some excellent craft beers.

 

[moleculo]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

An average house price of $176k - nearly half that of California.

now compare median salaries.

Some good info here regarding major markets:

When we think of places with high salaries, big metro areas like New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco are usually the first to spring to mind. Or cities with the biggest concentrations of educated workers, such as Boston.

But wages are just one part of the equation high prices in those East and West Coast cities mean the fat paychecks arent necessarily getting the locals ahead. When cost of living is factored in, most of the places that boast the highest effective pay turn out to be in the less celebrated and less expensive middle part of the country. My colleague Mark Schill of Praxis Strategy Group and I looked at the average annual wages in the nations 51 largest metropolitan statistical areas and adjusted incomes by the cost of living. The results were surprising and revealing.

In first place is Houston, where the average annual wage in 2011 was $59,838, eighth highest in the nation. What puts Houston at the top of the list is the regions relatively low cost of living, which includes such things as consumer prices and services, utilities and transportation costs and, most importantly, housing prices: The ratio of the median home price to median annual household income in Houston is only 2.9, remarkably low for such a dynamic urban region; in San Francisco a house goes for 6.7 times the median local household income. Adjusted for cost of living, the average Houston wage of $59,838 is worth $66,933, tops in the nation.

Most of the rest of the top 10 are relatively buoyant economies with relatively low costs of living. These include Dallas-Fort Worth (fifth), Charlotte, N.C. (sixth), Cincinnati (seventh), Austin, Texas (eighth), and Columbus, Ohio (10th). These areas all also have housing affordability rates below 3.0 except for Austin, which clocks in at 3.5. Similar situations down the list include such mid-sized cities as Nashville, (11th), St.Louis (12th), Pittsburgh, (13th), Denver (15th) and New Orleans (16th).

so what you are saying is they have to pay people more to make up for having to live in Houston.

You asked for salary info and I provided a couple links with data on the subject.

I know. Just being difficult.

 

[moleculo]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

Not to mention all the awesomeness of Texas. I'll put our BBQ, Tex-Mex, Blue Bell, Shiner Bock, Whole Foods, breastesses, guns, oil, hospitals, taxes etc against whatever you got.

Man, I don't understand Texan's pride when it comes to Shiner Bock. It's a step above swill. It's resoundingly unremarkable. They used to use colorant to make it look "dark" (not sure if they still do). I get that certain local beers evoke a place and people can get nostalgic about stuff like that. But Shiner isn't that much better than Lone Star.

And there's no way in hell you put that up against some of the beers out of California, Wisconsin, and Washington.

or Colorado. or North Carolina. Or Oregon. Or pretty much anywhere with a vibrant craft brew scene.

Shiner isn't a craft beer. Texas has some excellent craft beers.

then cite those as a reason Texas is superior. I know there's some good stuff going on in Austin. Might as well say Colorado is great because of Coors.

 

[Christo]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

Not to mention all the awesomeness of Texas. I'll put our BBQ, Tex-Mex, Blue Bell, Shiner Bock, Whole Foods, breastesses, guns, oil, hospitals, taxes etc against whatever you got.

Man, I don't understand Texan's pride when it comes to Shiner Bock. It's a step above swill. It's resoundingly unremarkable. They used to use colorant to make it look "dark" (not sure if they still do). I get that certain local beers evoke a place and people can get nostalgic about stuff like that. But Shiner isn't that much better than Lone Star.

And there's no way in hell you put that up against some of the beers out of California, Wisconsin, and Washington.

or Colorado. or North Carolina. Or Oregon. Or pretty much anywhere with a vibrant craft brew scene.

Shiner isn't a craft beer. Texas has some excellent craft beers.

then cite those as a reason Texas is superior. I know there's some good stuff going on in Austin. Might as well say Colorado is great because of Coors.

It is.

 

[Ignoramus]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

Not to mention all the awesomeness of Texas. I'll put our BBQ, Tex-Mex, Blue Bell, Shiner Bock, Whole Foods, breastesses, guns, oil, hospitals, taxes etc against whatever you got.

Man, I don't understand Texan's pride when it comes to Shiner Bock. It's a step above swill. It's resoundingly unremarkable. They used to use colorant to make it look "dark" (not sure if they still do). I get that certain local beers evoke a place and people can get nostalgic about stuff like that. But Shiner isn't that much better than Lone Star.

And there's no way in hell you put that up against some of the beers out of California, Wisconsin, and Washington.

or Colorado. or North Carolina. Or Oregon. Or pretty much anywhere with a vibrant craft brew scene.

Shiner isn't a craft beer. Texas has some excellent craft beers.

Plus Shiner is pretty much the perfect pairing for brisket.

 

[Clifford]

I'm no Houston apologist, but it's pretty tough to beat from a cost of living coupled with employment opportunity standpoint.

Not to mention all the awesomeness of Texas. I'll put our BBQ, Tex-Mex, Blue Bell, Shiner Bock, Whole Foods, breastesses, guns, oil, hospitals, taxes etc against whatever you got.

Man, I don't understand Texan's pride when it comes to Shiner Bock. It's a step above swill. It's resoundingly unremarkable. They used to use colorant to make it look "dark" (not sure if they still do). I get that certain local beers evoke a place and people can get nostalgic about stuff like that. But Shiner isn't that much better than Lone Star.

And there's no way in hell you put that up against some of the beers out of California, Wisconsin, and Washington.

Horse piss. Don't see how anyone could brag about it.

 

[SoBeDad]

Any state without mountains is automatically disqualified from consideration.

In the past few months, I've watched sunsets from the Gulf coast and sunrises from the Atlantic coast, snorkeled and caught mangrove snapper in Key Largo which my Peruvian friends ceviched, jet-skied near Key West, did shelling in Naples and Sanibel, kayaked near Ft. Myers. In the next few weeks I'm going to beautiful Wakula Springs near Tallahassee and by boat to Bimini. I like water.

 

[Christo]

Any state without mountains is automatically disqualified from consideration.

In the past few months, I've watched sunsets from the Gulf coast and sunrises from the Atlantic coast, snorkeled and caught mangrove snapper in Key Largo which my Peruvian friends ceviched, jet-skied near Key West, did shelling in Naples and Sanibel, kayaked near Ft. Myers. In the next few weeks I'm going to beautiful Wakula Springs near Tallahassee and by boat to Bimini. I like water.

Call us when you've seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion and c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate.

 

[SoBeDad]

Any state without mountains is automatically disqualified from consideration.

In the past few months, I've watched sunsets from the Gulf coast and sunrises from the Atlantic coast, snorkeled and caught mangrove snapper in Key Largo which my Peruvian friends ceviched, jet-skied near Key West, did shelling in Naples and Sanibel, kayaked near Ft. Myers. In the next few weeks I'm going to beautiful Wakula Springs near Tallahassee and by boat to Bimini. I like water.

Call us when you've seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion and c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate.

I like mountains too, but this is an everyday sight on the Miami Beach boardwalk. How often do you see that in Colorado, Chicago, or even Texas?

 

[17seconds]

Any state without mountains is automatically disqualified from consideration.

In the past few months, I've watched sunsets from the Gulf coast and sunrises from the Atlantic coast, snorkeled and caught mangrove snapper in Key Largo which my Peruvian friends ceviched, jet-skied near Key West, did shelling in Naples and Sanibel, kayaked near Ft. Myers. In the next few weeks I'm going to beautiful Wakula Springs near Tallahassee and by boat to Bimini. I like water.

Call us when you've seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion and c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate.

I like mountains too, but this is an everyday sight on the Miami Beach boardwalk. How often do you see that in Colorado, Chicago, or even Texas?

Christo

I lived in south FL and it's great if you are in the NBA or like having to wear this season's hot men's cologne to bag some high maintenance chick. And it rains almost every day. So glad I went back west. All the same stuff without the bull#### and much better weather.

 

[Grady Wilson]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

An average house price of $176k - nearly half that of California.

We're currently looking at houses about an hour north of Dallas in a town of roughly 3,000 people. Needless to say, the night life is non-existent and to drive anywhere that is really nice is about an hour. That being said, we are looking at a couple of houses right now. One house is 3,000 sq ft and is I believe about 190k. My wife can correct me. Another house is 2,700 sq ft. and the asking price is 170k.

 

[Todd Andrews]

Did anyone mention that Texas is full of KooKs and that they run the state?

 

[Buckfast 1]

This is clearly more of a p'in match than a serious conversation, but Fort Worth is getting seriously overlooked here. Lumping it in with Dallas is as silly as saying Baltimore and DC are the same...and having lived in all all 4 (along with Boston and NYC), Fort Worth is a tremendous find and truly on the uptake.

I recently had a chance to move to Austin from Fort Worth and declined. When I initially read the title of this thread I was thinking it was going to highlight the numerous great cities and how different they are. Personally I am not a fan of Dallas or Houston to live, but have spent much time in each, along with San Antonio and Austin and appreciate they are all within driving distance - but not where I would want to live.

The state is great though, and that is coming from a long time north east coast native. It's 103 out today and just got back from a bike ride. The Texas 103 is more bearable imo then the Boston 93...so i get why people are scared of the heat but it is over blown with the possibly exception of Houston which being close to the water tends to be more humid.

Population wise, no other state can boast more than (4 - Cali) top 20 populous cities. Texas has 6 And most of those gains are recent...so they must be doing something right.

Ranks in US population: Houston (4), San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11), Fort Worth (16), El Paso (19)

And in terms of business and growth...there really is no better place to me. At least according to Forbes which recently published a list of Best Cities for Job Growth: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/08/07/austin-heads-list-of-best-cities-for-job-growth/

Spoiler Alert: Texas had 7 of the 10.

An average house price of $176k - nearly half that of California.

We're currently looking at houses about an hour north of Dallas in a town of roughly 3,000 people. Needless to say, the night life is non-existent and to drive anywhere that is really nice is about an hour. That being said, we are looking at a couple of houses right now. One house is 3,000 sq ft and is I believe about 190k. My wife can correct me. Another house is 2,700 sq ft. and the asking price is 170k.

I don't really get "low cost of living" being a primary consideration in determining how great a location is. The cost of living is low in small town Texas because almost no one wants to live in small town Texas. If they did, the cost of living would be much higher. Low cost of living is not a good indicator of how "great" a particular state is.