These Metros Offer Jobs, Higher Salaries

A new study by Indeed Hiring Labs lists metros with the best bang for the buck, with the highest cost-of-living-adjusted salary and greater job opportunities.

Using salary data from July 2017 to June 2018, Indeed chief economist Jed Kolko finds that the top metros where the cost of living-adjusted salaries are highest, and have the best job opportunities are Duluth, Minn., Wilmington, N.C., Lubbock and San Antonio, Texas. Kolko also lists small metros near other metros with similar cost-of-living-adjusted salaries, “These are moves that get you a higher standard of living and similar job opportunities—all just a short flight or day’s drive away,” CityLab reports.

A city like San Francisco—unsurprisingly—offers salaries that are 19 percent higher on average than, say, San Antonio. The problem, though, is that this comparison doesn’t account for the fact that the cost of goods and services—especially, housing—is far higher in San Francisco. After adjusting for that cost, San Antonio’s average paycheck ends up being 11 percent higher than San Francisco’s. In other words, each dollar in a San Antonio resident pocket goes a lot further, all else being equal.

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