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 ...
About half of these cities are loaded with crime. I don’t know what idiot made up the list...but I doubt if they actually have been to the cities in question.
DC??? really?
A sewer
what a bs list....
Stockton is probably one of the most dangerous cities in the Central Valley.
Unless you have a family of drug dealers.
Ogden has serious gang problems and all that goes with them.
High crime keeps the properly values low so the middle class can afford it.
LOL.
*property*
Three hard-left nanny cities and several with out-of-control crime. No thanks.
No thanks.
San Antonio accomplishes the same thing as Austin and they have a winning NBA team. Also, call center, health care and military contract jobs are at an all time high.
And Austin can be awfully expensive. I wonder what the article’s definition of middle class is.
I suppose that housing in Raleigh is affordable when compared to say, SF, or NYC. But it's one of the most expensive markets in NC.
6 of the bottom 10 are in CA.
Right down there with Detroit.
VOTE DHIMMICRAT until America looks like Detroit! /s
Minneapolistan? No thanks... DC???
I’m convinced these lists are written by public school students, because all of them are thoroughly wrong and push liberal propaganda. What kind of idiot has missed that cost of living in Austin is skyrocketing, or that DC is now and forever top 10 in crime rate?
I though that DC was really expensive, too. Unless a “middle class” person happy to live in the slums.
With almost no exceptions these are all hotbeds of the gimme dats or people on the federal/state doles who just love the big government of the Marxists/Liberals. In DC unless you are a GS “umteen” it takes a three person family to earn enough to pay the rent on a garage.
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