Forbes: Miami 3rd Most Expensive City In U.S.
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – As anyone in South Florida who lives paycheck to paycheck can tell you, South Florida is one of the most expensive places to live in the country.
Now, Forbes Magazine has provided the proof just how expensive South Florida has become.
Forbes looked at several areas including the housing opportunity index, cost of living index, median salaries, and local unemployment rates. Based upon the findings, the magazine compiled the most expensive cities to live in inside the United States.
Los Angeles was number one, followed by Fresno, California, and then the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida area was the number three most expensive place to live in the United States.
Miami ranked poorly in housing affordability, had a high unemployment rate, and the median salary for college grads was just $55,700.
Among the problems South Florida has in the housing market is the large numbers of foreign buyers and tourists keeping the prices high.
For example, Brazil's economy has been booming and allowing Brazilians to buy properties and keep some property values high.
So, despite the housing bubble taking a massive toll on unemployment and overall wages, property values and other goods haven't declined in prices enough to allow most people to keep up with things that most Americans want and need.
After Miami the rest of the top 10 were: McAllen, Texas; Providence, R.I.; West Palm Beach, Fla; El Paso, Texas tied with Honolulu, Hawaii; Bradenton, Fla tied with San Jose, California; Charleston, S. C.; and Oxnard, California.
