LinkedIn-Zillow Research Finds Places Where Jobs and Affordable Housing Intersect

Zillow and LinkedIn combined housing and employment data to analyze a common set of priorities: an affordable rental home and a good job. The two companies used job listings data, salary data, and the percent of workers hired in the past yearⁱ in three industries: health care, technology, and finance. By analyzing income tax rates and Zillow’s median rent dataⁱⁱ, they were able to find housing markets across the country where those workers can pocket the largest share of their income after paying rent.

For technology workers who rent, Seattle, Austin and Pittsburgh, Penn. came out on top among the housing markets analyzed, with the Bay Area at #4. Finance workers will find job and rental housing harmony most easily in Charlotte, NC, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Phoenix. Healthcare workers’ best bets are Phoenix, Indianapolis, Ind., and Boston.

Over the past decade, housing prices in coastal markets have shot up, in large part due to demand from workers following high-paying jobs. West Coast housing affordability is the worst in the nation; renters and home owners there often spend nearly half the median income to rent a typical home, while a rental in the middle of the country costs more like 25 percent of the median income.

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the findings is that tech workers do OK in the Bay Area, despite its notoriously high housing prices. The median home value in the San Francisco area is $789,300. Taking a tech job in the Denver area, where the median home value is $348,700, actually costs the average Denver tech worker about $140 a month, considering lower salaries there.

Salaries for other industries don’t hold up as well in the San Francisco area, though. Even highly-paid finance workers keep only about 32 percent of their incomes after paying for housing and taxes. In Charlotte or Chicago, they can pocket a median of 61 percent.

“High demand and inventory shortages have driven up housing prices in some markets so much that even if you land a great job, the salary might not cover living within commuting distance,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell. “On the other hand, the nation’s most affordable housing markets don’t always offer plentiful employment opportunities. Housing is the biggest line item in most people’s budgets, so we did the math for you and found ‘sweet spots’ — places with great job markets and housing markets that will leave you with some cash at the end of the month.”

“As we’ve seen in LinkedIn’s Workforce Reports, hiring has been strong in the U.S. We also know that having insight into where your earnings go further is important to job seekers,” said Paul Ko, the head of analytics for LinkedIn’s Economic Graph. “That’s why these Sweet Spots are so attractive, as these cities are experiencing higher-than-average hiring rates, combined with good salaries and more disposable income.”

For more information about methodology, check out Zillow Research.

Finance	Renters		Owners
	Disposable Income (%)	Disposable Income ($)	Disposable Income (%)	Disposable Income ($)	Sweet Spot Ranking for Rentersiii
Charlotte, NC	52.3%	$               3,685	61.3%	$               4,318	1
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX	53.4%	$               3,597	64.8%	$               4,362	2
Phoenix, AZ	50.6%	$               3,249	58.0%	$               3,723	3
Boston, MA	41.7%	$               3,198	52.7%	$               4,043	4
Chicago, IL	48.8%	$               3,453	61.1%	$               4,322	5
New York City, NY	37.6%	$               3,142	48.1%	$               4,021	6
Seattle, WA	51.0%	$               4,163	57.1%	$               4,657	7
Austin, TX	51.4%	$               3,495	61.3%	$               4,170	8
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN	47.8%	$               3,429	57.5%	$               4,128	9
San Francisco Bay, CA	30.1%	$               2,794	32.3%	$               2,991	10
Pittsburgh, PA	56.2%	$               3,582	65.2%	$               4,155	11
Denver, CO	41.5%	$               2,761	51.2%	$               3,409	12
Nashville, TN	55.9%	$               3,715	65.9%	$               4,379	13
Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL	53.7%	$               3,085	65.5%	$               3,762	14
Washington D.C. Metro, VA	39.1%	$               3,121	47.9%	$               3,819	15

Healthcare Services	Renters		Owners
	Disposable Income (%)	Disposable Income ($)	Disposable Income (%)	Disposable Income ($)	Sweet Spot Ranking for Renters
Phoenix, AZ	52.1%	$         3,793	58.6%	$        4,267	1
Indianapolis, IN	53.7%	$         3,111	65.3%	$        3,783	2
Boston, MA	40.1%	$         2,861	52.0%	$        3,706	3
Denver, CO	40.5%	$         2,580	50.7%	$        3,228	4
Austin, TX	48.7%	$         2,846	60.3%	$        3,521	5
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN	46.7%	$         3,087	57.3%	$        3,786	6
Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL	54.4%	$         3,297	65.6%	$        3,974	7
Seattle, WA	48.8%	$         3,502	55.6%	$        3,996	8
Pittsburgh, PA	55.9%	$         3,403	65.3%	$        3,976	9
Nashville, TN	55.4%	$         3,503	65.9%	$        4,167	10
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX	52.8%	$         3,405	64.7%	$        4,170	11
San Francisco Bay, CA	31.0%	$         2,976	33.1%	$        3,173	12
Charlotte, NC	50.7%	$         3,050	61.2%	$        3,683	13
Kansas City, MO	49.2%	$         2,943	60.6%	$        3,625	14
Chicago, IL	47.1%	$         2,999	60.8%	$       3,868	15

Technology	Renters		Owners
	Disposable Income (%)	Disposable Income ($)	Disposable Income (%)	Disposable Income ($)	Sweet Spot Ranking for Renters
Seattle, WA	54.3%	$         5,493	59.2%	$     5,987	1
Austin, TX	53.8%	$         4,336	62.2%	$     5,011	2
Pittsburgh, PA	56.4%	$         3,681	65.2%	$     4,254	3
San Francisco Bay, CA	35.6%	$         3,964	37.4%	$     4,161	4
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX	54.9%	$         4,121	65.0%	$     4,886	5
Denver, CO	44.2%	$         3,373	52.7%	$     4,021	6
Charlotte, NC	52.1%	$         3,600	61.3%	$     4,233	7
Boston, MA	43.1%	$         3,532	53.4%	$     4,377	8
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN	47.7%	$         3,419	57.5%	$     4,118	9
Detroit, MI	54.5%	$         3,925	64.1%	$     4,618	10
Atlanta, GA	50.8%	$         3,709	60.2%	$     4,397	11
Indianapolis, IN	55.0%	$         3,648	65.2%	$     4,320	12
Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL	55.5%	$         3,674	65.7%	$     4,351	13
Washington D.C. Metro, VA	40.1%	$         3,356	48.4%	$     4,054	14
Nashville, TN	55.3%	$         3,469	65.9%	$     4,133	15

Zillow
Zillow® is the leading real estate and rental marketplace dedicated to empowering consumers with data, inspiration and knowledge around the place they call home, and connecting them with the best local professionals who can help. In addition, Zillow operates an industry-leading economics and analytics bureau led by Zillow’s Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell. Dr. Gudell and her team of economists and data analysts produce extensive housing data and research covering more than 450 markets at Zillow Real Estate Research. Zillow also sponsors the quarterly Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, which asks more than 100 leading economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists to predict the path of the Zillow Home Value Index over the next five years. Launched in 2006, Zillow is owned and operated by Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z and ZG), and headquartered in Seattle.