The Housing Market Where Pay Goes Furthest Is …

Another day, another housing data list. In this go-round, the good folks at Glassdoor determined the best metro housing market based on the median cost of living. In compiling this analysis, Glassdoor measured the median base salary against the median housing value, factoring in the cost of living ratio and the number of open jobs in those markets.

As a result, the city where one’s pay goes furthest is Detroit, where the median base salary is $61,500 and the median home value is $123,000. Other markets that are kind to one’s wallet are Memphis (with a $52,000 median base salary and a $112,100 median home value), Pittsburgh (a median base salary of $56,896 and a median home value of $126,700), Cleveland (a $55,000 median base salary and a $125,000 median home value) and Indianapolis (a $56,000 median base salary and a $130,200 median home value).

“This report shows that where you live and how much you earn are directly tied to one another,” said Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor’s chief economist. “Though there are certainly other financial factors to consider when taking into account total cost of living, this data reinforces that pay typically goes further in mid-sized cities versus big metropolitan areas where there is often tighter competition for housing.”

Indeed, some of the nation’s biggest cities are actually the least friendly places for trying to save a buck, most notably New York City (a median base salary of $70,000 and a median home value of $384,100), Boston (a median base salary of $67,500 and a median home value of $387,400) and San Francisco (a median base salary of $88,000 and a median home value of $806,600).