Most people choose to stay put right where they grew up or at least someplace close by. Your family is there, so are most of your friends, and all the places you like to go and things you’re used to seeing. It’s comfortable. So comfortable that very rarely does someone stop and wonder whether or not they’re getting the most value out of their hometown.
American cities are notoriously wide-ranging in the cost-of-living average for their inhabitants. On one end, you have a city like San Francisco. To afford the most meager of lifestyles one has to spend the majority of their income on the cost of their housing. On the other, you have a town like Fort Smith, Arkansas, which needs its state listed alongside it to be geographically pinpointed yet enjoys a terrifically low cost-of-living. So how does your town stand up?
It might help to explain how the cost-of-living is figured. It’s pretty simple to follow: it’s all about comparing averages. The average cost of a home all the way down to the average cost of shampoo. Compiled, the difference between two cities’ costs reflects the change.
Think about what your city costs you in terms greater than just the mere cost-of-living. Opportunities vary drastically from city to city especially depending on what field you’re in or studying to be in. Someone browsing nursing degree programs in St. Louis for example is making it harder on themselves to find a job locally when 30% of the city’s population is single and under the age of 30. Such an individual should consider South University online or attending an institution closer to where elderly people are more likely to be living.
Many of us simply like to live comfortably, and for most of us, that means staying in the geographical location we feel the most familiar with. But if it’s a pricey place to live, or if the opportunity is few and far between, then living comfortably is going to be hard no matter how many loved ones are nearby. Don’t accept an expensive cost-of-living or lack of chance to change. It’s not easy leaving your comfort zone behind but then again neither is paying four-figures for a one-room apartment or sending out seven resumes every day for six months.
If your city is charging you too much for too little, consider taking your business elsewhere.
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