Money doesn’t stretch like it used to – especially in Houston it seems. A company by the name of Highland Cabinetry recently conducted an analysis leveraging living costs, real estate prices, and income among other metrics to determine the most overpriced cities in the country. The study found Houston to be the eighth most overpriced city in the U.S.
The study was conducted by Highland Cabinetry, a U.S.-based custom cabinetry manufacturer. For its study, the company culled data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor, Zillow, and other sources. Key metrics taken into consideration include living costs, prices of real estate, unemployment, income, pollution, safety, and traffic. From these metrics, the study assigned a number to each city (100 being the highest/worst offender).
For our sake, Houston scored an 87.1…. hooray? While the study addressed the relative affordability of real estate in Houston, the city’s scores suffered in lackluster income levels and pollution, with mediocre safety conditions – lower than that of Los Angeles or New York.
Surprisingly, the study revealed that the most overpriced U.S. city isn’t Los Angeles, New York, or even San Francisco, but rather Newark.
The 10 most overpriced cities in the U.S. according to the study are as such:
- Newark, New Jersey
- New York, New York
- Los Angeles, California
- Detroit, Michigan
- Wilmington, Delaware
- Washington, D.C.
- Chicago, Illinois
- Houston, Texas
- San Francisco, California
- Miami, Florida
“Cost of living alone doesn’t define the value of a city. What our data shows is that several high-cost urban areas come with serious trade-offs,” Highland Cabinetry states. “Whether it’s long commutes, safety issues, or environmental stress. For many residents, the price tag isn’t the only consideration; it’s what that money gets you. And in many cases, the return on investment just isn’t there.”