By Mike Bodeen · 2 November 2020
This was an interesting article via GoBankingRates.com. The company analyzed the median income in 50 U.S. cities. It then showed (in their opinion) the income needed to live comfortably if you were a homeowner AND a renter.
Three cities in Arizona were analyzed: Phoenix, Tucson and Mesa. The article mentions that there is a large gap that exists for each of these cities between the median income and income needed to live comfortably. Tucson, for example, showed a median income of only $39,617 with income of $72,870 needed to live comfortably. What was not surprising, but when seen in print, was an eye-opener, was that the income needed to rent a home in Tucson ($74,070) was higher than the amount needed if you were a homeowner.
“And San Francisco? SF has a high median income of $96,265 but needs $230,286 to live comfortably as a homeowner and requires $164,214 if you’re a renter.”
In Phoenix, the median income was $52,080, and the income needed to live comfortably was $86,407. And the rent amount needed? Virtually the same – $86,143. Mesa and Phoenix were almost identical in all numbers.
You might think these numbers are not so good, but if you compare it to all the other 50 cities in this study, you see the gap as more normal, except for places like New York City, which has a median income of $57,782, but requires $148,442. And San Francisco? SF has a high median income of $96,265 but needs $230,286 to live comfortably as a homeowner and requires $164,214 if you’re a renter.
The takeaway? I’ll let you decide that one. For me, I’m glad to be a homeowner in Phoenix. You can see the article comparing the 50 different cities here.
Are They Moving Here? And if So, From Where?
Is it “actually” true that Californians are flocking to Arizona? The following was recently found on AZCentral.com. It’s the only part of the article that gives us a source and stat of the claims:
“The biggest group of out-of-state buyers last month was from California, according to ARMLS. Ruff researches buyers’ addresses on home sales records to track the growing trend. In September, about 16% of all metro Phoenix homebuyers had out-of-state addresses, according to property records. About 570 Valley homebuyers last month were from California. That’s up 31% from September 2019.”
You can check out that article here.