Metro Detroit is one of the best areas in the country to live and work in regarding cost-of-living, according to Forbes Magazine.
The magazine, along with Praxis Strategy Group, looked at the average annual wages in the nation’s 51 largest metropolitan statistical areas and adjusted incomes by the cost of living.
Detroit came is third with a 2011 adjusted rate of $57,016, up from its normal average annual wage of $53,424.
“One major surprise is the metro area in third place: Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich.,” according to Forbes. ”This can be explained by the relatively high wages paid in the resurgent auto industry and, as we have reported earlier, a huge surge in well-paying STEM (science, technology, engineering and math-related) jobs.”
Forbes also noted the Metro Detroit housing market and sizable reductions in unemployment for the area’s ranking.
The only metropolitan areas ahead of Detroit were Houston and San Jose. Both had an adjusted annual wage of more than $60,000. Rounding out the top five were Memphis and Dallas:
No. 1: Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
2011 Annual Wage Adjusted For Cost of Living: $66,933
Average Annual Wage: $59,838
Unadjusted Rank: 8
No. 2: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
2011 Adjusted Annual Wage: $61,581
Average Annual Wage: $92,556
Unadjusted Rank: 1
No. 3: Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
2011 Adjusted Annual Wage: $57,016
Average Annual Wage: $53,424
Unadjusted Rank: 17
No. 4: Memphis, TN-MS-AR
2011 Adjusted Annual Wage: $55,908
Average Annual Wage $48,025
Unadjusted Rank: 32
No. 5: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
2011 Adjusted Annual Wage: $55,564
Average Annual Wage $53,453
Unadjusted Rank: 16
The cost-of-living report is part of Forbes’ new special section called “Reinventing America,” which focuses attention on the challenges and successes of towns, cities and traditional industries across the nation.
The Detroit-area’s cost of living ranking, according to Forbes, gives the “longtime sad sack region” a “reason to feel hopeful.”
By: Michael Wayland, MLive
