Tampa Bay landed at No. 18 on the new Forbes list of the most affordable large U.S. metro areas. About 77.5 percent of homes are affordable to families earning Tampa Bay’s median income. Forbes says the three most affordable metro areas are Buffalo, Memphis and Cincinnati Ohio.
The least affordable metro areas: New York City and Honolulu.
In Florida, Jacksonville ranked 15th in affordability. The bulk of the most affordable metro areas were in the Midwest and the Southeast.
Forbes looked at the country’s 100 largest metro areas, then factored in housing affordability, a cost-of-living index as well as the cost of food, utilities, gas, transportation, medical expenses, and miscellaneous expenses.
Source: Tampa Bay Times (March 11, 2014)