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In many Southern cities, including San Antonio, wages tend to keep up with cost of living.
It's no secret: Most Americans are bad at saving money. But our own shortcomings are not entirely to blame. Geography actually plays a significant role in our ability to sock away cash - specifically, the relationship between cost of living and income in any given city.That's according to GoBankingRates' latest study, which gathered data for the 60 largest US cities to determine where it's easiest to save money, or the places where the average person has money left over after covering expenses.
For its ranking, GoBankingRates considered seven factors indicative of financial well-being:
- Median household income: in 2015 dollars according to U.S. Census QuickFacts.
- Unemployment rate: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' February 2017 data on unemployment rates for metro areas.
- Median home list price: according to Zillow data from March 2017.
- Median rent price: according to Zillow data from March 2017.
- Average gas price: average reported gas prices from GasBuddy as of April 21, 2017.
- Average monthly cost of groceries: grocery costs based on recommended minimum amount of food per person from Numbeo data on April 21, 2017.
- Sales tax: according to TaxFoundation.org 2016 data.
All seven metrics were weighted equally by GOBankingRates and given a score between 0 and 1, then added together for a total score indicating final rank. The list includes multiple cities in both Arizona and Texas, as well as a few in the Midwest, and one increasingly desirable city out West.
Below, check out the full list of the 15 best cities to save money.