Moving to a Cheaper Neighborhood Doesn’t Always Pay
Moving to a Cheaper Neighborhood Doesn’t Always Pay
From Business Week Online:
Interesting report out today from the Center for Housing Policy, which concludes that most of the savings that moderate-income families get from moving to a neighborhood with cheaper housing are eaten up by higher transportation expenses. And the problem seems to be getting worse: 15 of the 20 fastest-growing counties in the U.S. are 30 or more miles from the nearest central business district (where a lot of the jobs are). The center defines “working families” as ones with incomes of $20,000 to $50,000 a year.
San Francisco comes out worst in the study, with working families spending about 35% of their income on housing and another 27% on transportation, which rounds up to 63% combined. Pittsburgh comes out best, but not a whole lot better, at 22% for housing and 33% for transportation, which rounds down to 54%.