Cost of Living Articles

Yahoo! ® Finance, June 4, 2000 [ article]

Named #1 Best City to Live, Work and Play

These ten great places will only get better.

Our approach this year to picking the ten best cities in which to live and work was simple: Look for places with strong economies and abundant jobs, then demand reasonable living costs and plenty of fun things to do. When we ran the numbers, some of the names that popped up made us do a double take at first. So we hit the road to meet movers, shakers and regular folks, experience the ambience and take in the sights.

#1 Houston

• Population: 5,542,048
• Population Growth Since 2000: 14.9%
• Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 31.3%
• Cost-of-Living Index: 88.1 (100 being national average)
• Median Household Income: $50,250
• Income Growth Since 2000: 13.1%

---

Minority Nurse, Winter 2007 [ article]

Houston is the only city on our list that manages to have a lower-than-average cost of living and higher-than-average nursing salaries.

This lively urban area, the fourth largest city in the U.S., is home to Texas Medical Center, the largest medical facility in the world. The complex employs more than 65,000 health care professionals and treats more than five million patients each year. In total, Houston is home to 95 hospitals (including an above-average number of Magnet hospitals) and 36 educational institutions that offer degrees specializing in the health sciences. The area also has a large and growing Hispanic population.

Demographics:

• White 56.7%
• African American 23.5%
• Hispanic/Latino (of any race) 42.3%
• American Indian/Alaska Native 0.3%
• Asian/Pacific Islander 5.8%

Future Trends:

Demand for nurses in Texas will increase an estimated 57% from the year 2000 to 2020.