US News & World Report: Des Moines Richest City in US (Washington: neighborhood, buy)

[capitalcityguy]

Interesting...

Beverly Hills, Manhattan, Silicon Valley ...Des Moines?
Other places may be famous for their wealthy celebrities, business tycoons, and tech entrepreneurs, but Des Moines, Iowa, is--at least by one measure--the richest metropolitan area in America. According to a U.S. News analysis of data for large U.S. metropolitan areas (pop. 500,000 or larger), the Hawkeye State capital has the highest median income in the nation relative to the cost of living. It is followed closely by the metro areas of Washington, D.C.; Worcester, Mass.; Houston; and Ogden, Utah. On the other end of the spectrum are the metro areas surrounding McAllen, Texas; New York City; and Fresno, Calif. [See a slide show of the cities with the lowest real incomes and cities with the highest real incomes.]

Link to full article: 10 Cities With the Highest and Lowest Real Incomes - US News and World Report

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

Interesting...




Link to full article: 10 Cities With the Highest and Lowest Real Incomes - US News and World Report

If you transport the landscape of northern Wisconsin to Des Moines, Iowa I would move there

[sequoias]

I find that hard to believe. I don't see many fancy skyscrapers and some angles of the skyline is downright ulgy and plain. Bellevue, WA has fancy many skyscrapers and it's lot smaller than Des Moines, Iowa.

Of course, I haven't seen the rich neighborhood in Des Moines, yet.

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by sequoias

I find that hard to believe. I don't see many fancy skyscrapers and some angles of the skyline is downright ulgy and plain. Bellevue, WA has fancy many skyscrapers and it's lot smaller than Des Moines, Iowa.

Of course, I haven't seen the rich neighborhood in Des Moines, yet.

Did you even read the article?

[tollfree]

Des Moines is well-off for its size and has a strong white-collar industry. At the same time, the methodology is actually insulting. They are saying "It's so cheap, that only an average salary in a major city, makes you rich there".

[capitalcityguy]

Yeah...I do agree that throwing around the term "rich" like that is a bit disingenuous.

Regardless, great publicity for the city and the metro!

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by sequoias

I find that hard to believe. I don't see many fancy skyscrapers and some angles of the skyline is downright ulgy and plain. Bellevue, WA has fancy many skyscrapers and it's lot smaller than Des Moines, Iowa.

Of course, I haven't seen the rich neighborhood in Des Moines, yet.

Totally clueless....

I notices no mention of taxes. I'll wager that would change the outcome significantly.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Des Moines is well-off for its size and has a strong white-collar industry. At the same time, the methodology is actually insulting. They are saying "It's so cheap, that only an average salary in a major city, makes you rich there".

The dichotomy would be very low housing prices which make up a sizable chunk of COL, but taxes which are middle of the road at best.

[DirtMagurt]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Des Moines is well-off for its size and has a strong white-collar industry. At the same time, the methodology is actually insulting. They are saying "It's so cheap, that only an average salary in a major city, makes you rich there".

Yeah it really isn't something to gloat about unless you plan never to leave the state on vacation, or buy any big ticket goods that are priced the same everywhere because those are going to obliterate an Iowan's disposable income compared with people from other areas that have much higher salaries and higher COL. Just because a lower percentage of income is spent on COL doesn't mean there are more real dollars left over after the fact.

[DirtMagurt]

Also is this news? I was always of the understanding that Iowa has had the lowest relative COL for years, maybe decades. Had that changed recently?