Yay Houston! It's not the most beautiful city in the world, but there are so many jobs, cheap, huge, new apts (we live in a townhouse, 3 stories, 1243sq ft for $1567/mo) and houses everywhere, and an awesome international airport that gets you cheaply to beautiful places!

I have lived in Houston for the past 11 years and I wish I didn't. Yes, it is cheap to live here, but I don't think it is worth it. The weather is nasty making it next to impossible to do things outside; which is probably why we have ranked high on the over-weight cities lists as well.

well i'm not surprised that NYC was in the top 5 - i live here and i know that there's potential to make a GREAT living - but the thing to consider also is that there's such a high cost of living - that it's just barely balancing out (for me at least). sometimes i do think about moving to other cities where i'd be able to earn equal amounts of money with the hope of having more to save - but it's not happening anytime soon. i'm a new yorker through and through.

It seems that NYC went down by one this year. I don't think I'll ever leave NYC though. I guess when you're born and raised here you get used to the cost of living.

interesting. it's weird because new york you are either making loads and living the extremely good life or you are making ends meet living paycheck to paycheck and paying rent for a closet.

i live in SF and i get paid more for doing the similar work my friends in new york do. i guess it all depends on what you are doing. cost of living feels more reasonable in SF, at least when it comes to rent.

It's nice to see my city Dallas on the list. People do get paid significantly more here than they would in other smaller cities doing the same exact job.

Yay, Houston's my hometown. I live in Austin now for college, but Houston is significantly cheaper to live in, and there are a lot of jobs.

Woot Pittsburgh! The potential to earn a lot is definitely there (hopefully I will be partaking when I graduate!) And the cost of living is relatively low. My roomie and I live in a very nice apartment in a nice part of town and pay a ridiculously low amount in rent. And because we are both students we enjoy student rates for internet and cable. My bf has graduated and also has a fabulous job.

I don't think the weather in Houston is that bad. I run outside everyday of the week- you just have to learn to deal with the weather and not make excuses- I helped myself get used to the heat by spending little by little warm days outside, or I wait for the rainstorms to pass, I also play tennis outdoors twice a week and my fiance plays soccer 2x a wk also and we have no problems with weather cancelling our activities. I think lots of places of bad weather or are hot, at least in the fall/winter it's great to be outside here. Sorry- I'm a huge Houston ambassador- I think it has a bad imagine it doesn't deserve.

Yay, Philly! We're definitely one of the most affordable cities in the nation.

Hooray! Minneapolis is #2! I knew we were gonna rank high, great location, awesome weather for the most part, and great opportunities to make a decent living and live well.

I live just outside of Boston but work in the city. Yay for all the schools here and how they are major employers (and I'm one of their employees).