Minneapolis richest MSA in midwest, Grand Rapids least wealthy

[denvernative1982]

Midwest MSA ranked by per-capita income
1 (14th nationally) Minneapolis $38601
2 (27th nationally) Detroit $35972
3 (31st nationally) Chicago $35464
4 (35th nationally) Milwaukee $35133
5(39th nationally) Des Moines $33639
6 (42nd nationally) Indianapolis $33618
7(44th nationally) Omaha $33537
8 (50th nationally) Kansas City $33335
9(54th nationally) Cleveland $33196
10 (57th nationally) Cincinnati $32979
11 (59th nationally) Columbus $32930
12(99th nationally) Dayton $30748
13(118th nationally) Wichita $30060
14 (139th nationally) Grand Rapids $29188

[Lmichigan]

Why's Detroit on there twice? Once again, what's the source for your information, and what exactly are the numbers? Median income...

[JivecitySTL]

You forgot Saint Louis

[unusualfire]

Richest? I find it hard to believe when the cost of living in higher there(minn) than other places in the midwest.

[hudkina]

It's not the richest. It has the highest per capita personal income. A city that has a larger number of dependents (children, stay-at-home parents, etc.) will have a lower PCPI. What would be a more accurate number is to take the total gross income and divide it by the number of people who claimed an income.

[Accura4Matalan]

Quite surprising results there.

[Azn_chi_boi]

Maybe if higher income means higher prices... especially in their suburbs..

[hudkina]

Actually the outlier counties usually have lower PCPIs than the central counties.

[samsonyuen]

The highest the Midwest has is 14th in the country! Good for Mpls anyway.

[hudkina]

The cost of living in the midwest is much, much lower than it is on the coasts.

Someone who earns $45,000 in Minneapolis can live like a king, while in New York City they can barely get by.

[unusualfire]

Then you can't say Minneapolis is the richest MSA if they spend more on taxes, heating, and housing than other parts in the midwest. per capita or otherwise.

[The anti-cheesehead]

Then you can't say Minneapolis is the richest MSA if they spend more on taxes, heating, and housing than other parts in the midwest. per capita or otherwise.

If it's not Minneapolis when you figure in cost of living, then what metro are you talking about?

[unusualfire]

It would be one that's has more money leftover after everything is said and done with. I'm sure it's not minnie. Maybe the thread name is wrong. Because a MSA has the highest per capita in come does not mean they are the richest.

[The anti-cheesehead]

It would be one that's has more money leftover after everything is said and done with. I'm sure it's not minnie. Maybe the thread name is wrong. Because a MSA has the highest per capita in come does not mean they are the richest.

Oh, OK. I didn't know you were just guessing; I thought you had some income and cost of living figures.

[Minneapolitan]

The cost of living in the midwest is much, much lower than it is on the coasts.

Someone who earns $45,000 in Minneapolis can live like a king, while in New York City they can barely get by.

What is living like a king to you??? I do not consider 45,000 a year a whole lot of money. (although it is more than what I currently make) My partner and I collectivly make in the 70,000 range and we can only afford one economy car (and a Vespa) and a 1,500 sq ft townhome (albeit new) 15-20 miles from DT minneapolis. Although we are comfortable, in my opinion that is far from living like a king.

[denvernative1982]

What is living like a king to you??? I do not consider 45,000 a year a whole lot of money. (although it is more than what I currently make) My partner and I collectivly make in the 70,000 range and we can only afford one economy car (and a Vespa) and a 1,500 sq ft townhome (albeit new) 15-20 miles from DT minneapolis. Although we are comfortable, in my opinion that is far from living like a king.

This is exactly why Columbus is the best in the midwest!!

You can get a condo in Columbus for 25,000 dollars on the westside close to Ohio State University, North Market and the Short North, the same thing in Minneapolis would be 125,000 dollars.

As far as Minnesota outside of Minneapolis the state is much poorer than North Dakota. Moorhead and St. Cloud are complete slums. Seems like outside of the Minneapolis metro the cost of housing goes down by more than half, but the rest of the state is very economically depressed.

[Toggie]

No, rural Minnesota is not poorer than rural North Dakota.

please look at the map, it displays the POVERTY rate on a COUNTY by COUNTY basis.
http://www.illinoisatlas.com/us/income/jpg/us_county_pov99all.jpg

[JTS LOU]

The Midwest has less poverty than any other Region.. Eastern Kentucky, very dissapointing.

[Azn_chi_boi]

Look at the southern Mississippi River Valley

[Lmichigan]

That's no surprise. It's been that way for over a century.

[Azn_chi_boi]

Also, isn't all of the dark spots in the west (like NE Arizonia) an Indian revservation?

[Lmichigan]

Yes, most of the dark areas in the southwest are Native American land. In fact, New Mexico routinely rates as the nations poorest state.

[Minneapolitan]

This is exactly why Columbus is the best in the midwest!!

You can get a condo in Columbus for 25,000 dollars on the westside close to Ohio State University, North Market and the Short North, the same thing in Minneapolis would be 125,000 dollars.

As far as Minnesota outside of Minneapolis the state is much poorer than North Dakota. Moorhead and St. Cloud are complete slums. Seems like outside of the Minneapolis metro the cost of housing goes down by more than half, but the rest of the state is very economically depressed.

Sorry, Columbus isnt my cup of tea. I would never consider living there. Yes, I will agree that Minneapolis is more expensive than most other comparable midwestern cities (Columbus not one of them), but this is a very desirable metro to live in, so naturally cost of housing goes up. And also, I am willing to bet that I make much more at what I do for a living than I would in most other parts of the midwest. People can afford more here. It's just how the market works, no?

BTW a condo for 25 K sounds like it would be a shit-hole. That or REALLY tiny. No offense. My Dad's shitty old farm house in The Middle of Nowhere, IA sold for more than that. And no, it was nothing special. Just an old house on a 5 acre land plot. No farming infrastructure. Anyways, you might be exaggerating "slightly" about that comparison between prices of condos. Who knows with you.

[denvernative1982]

Sorry, Columbus isnt my cup of tea. I would never consider living there. Yes, I will agree that Minneapolis is more expensive than most other comparable midwestern cities (Columbus not one of them), but this is a very desirable metro to live in, so naturally cost of housing goes up. And also, I am willing to bet that I make much more at what I do for a living than I would in most other parts of the midwest. People can afford more here. It's just how the market works, no?

BTW a condo for 25 K sounds like it would be a shit-hole. That or REALLY tiny. No offense. My Dad's shitty old farm house in The Middle of Nowhere, IA sold for more than that. And no, it was nothing special. Just an old house on a 5 acre land plot. No farming infrastructure. Anyways, you might be exaggerating "slightly" about that comparison between prices of condos. Who knows with you.

Well, lets be honest only a midwesterner would like Minneapolis. I mean 20 degree average high temperatures, a crime rate of double the national average and a massive poverty problem due too income disparity is the kind of town most people dont want to live in. But hey, if living in a town thats so cold 6 months out of the year that you can get frostbite in minutes and being boring as most small towns is your idea of fun, more power too ya!!. I know somebody who says Iowa City was more entertaining than Minneapolis.



And yeah as a member of the white-collar workforce you do make more in Minneapolis, because its a city which hates the labor unions, thus white-collars make more. But you know for us regular blue-collar people Columbus pays much better: For example, a checker at Meijer in Columbus makes about 15 dollars an hour. A husband and wife cashiering can make over 60,000 dollars a year and the median cost of house in Columbus is 140,000 dollars.

I mean lets be honest the incomes are 5,000 dollars more in Minneapolis than Columbus maybe are able too buy 20,000 dollars worth of house and the average house is about 80,000 dollars more in Minneapolis than Columbus.

So the cost of living sends Minneapolis towards the bottom in buying power and sends Omaha (with its powerful hospital, college and fortune 500 economy) and Columbus (with its one of a kind neighborhoods) toward the top!!

[ColDayMan]

I always viewed it as Minneapolis being a city with a great (fantastic) downtown while Columbus being a city with a great collection of vibrant urban neighborhoods. Both cities themselves are comparable highly (Columbus would be the size of Minneapolis AND St. Paul combined) but metro-wise, Columbus is at 1.8 while Twin Cities at, what, 3.2ish? Metro to metro, Minneapolis is in another league (certainly) but city vs. city, extremely comparable.

But who cares who has more people in sprawl and cutsey towns ;).

Just my two cents. Both are great cities, though.

[Toggie]

the average white collar salary in Columbus is $21.36
the average blue collar salary in Columbus is $14.92
the average white collar salary in Minneapolis is $25.40
the average blue collar salary in Minneapolis is $18.14
the average white collar worker in Columbus makes 84% of the salary of a Minneapolis worker
the average blue collar worker in Columbus makes 82% of the salary of a Minneapolis worker

here is a SOURCE for these numbers http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/compub.htm#IL

did you know that in 2002 Columbus AND Omaha both had crime rates higher than Minneapolis?
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004902.html

did you also know that that doesn't matter because of the arbitrary borders that define central cities? it is ALWAYS more appropriate to look at metro or even better urbanized area statistics?

stop making stuff up, denvernative.

[KM1410]

For example, a checker at Meijer in Columbus makes about 15 dollars an hour.

:hahaha: I love how you pull numbers out of your a$$.

[The anti-cheesehead]

(Columbus would be the size of Minneapolis AND St. Paul combined)

Columbus is actually almost twice the size of Minneapolis and St. Paul combined.

according to http://www.city-data.com/city/Columbus-Ohio.html Columbus is 210 sq. miles with 711,470 people.

Minneapolis/St. Paul is 108 sq. miles with 669,769 people.

I've never been to Columbus, but those stats alone say that Minneapolis/St. Paul are quite different than Columbus.

[Minneapolitan]

^I think he was talking about population.^ Also, I do understand that Columbus has some amazing neighbourhoods but Minneapolis and St Paul have their own amazing neighborhoods. I REALLY would like to do a photo tour of our neighbourhoods to offset some peoples' opinions about our very urban cities. Afterall, we dont have one of the highest city proper population densities in the midwest for nothin'.

BTW Denvernative, I am a member of the blue collar work force here in the mpls metro. I work retail while attending school.

[ColDayMan]

Oh, I know Minneapolis and St. Paul (esp. St Paul) has some very nice urban areas but again, it's all relative in general. Minneapolis has a fantastic downtown and St. Paul has a very surprising downtown. I prefer Columbus' neighborhoods but I'd also prefer Minneapolis' downtown.