Where is the money

[REWahoo]

Interesting 3D Map showing US GDP by city and state. Five states - California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois - were responsible for generating 40% of the total.

This 3D Map Visualizes the U.S. Economy In a New Way

 

[alaska55]

They also have about 38% of the countries population and with the cost of living in CA,NY,and ILL I would have thought it would be higher.

 

[DEC-1982]

Interesting 3D Map showing US GDP by city and state. Five states - California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois - were responsible for generating 40% of the total.

This 3D Map Visualizes the U.S. Economy In a New Way

Cool. I wish I could see the numbers in addition to the image. Maybe the top10 or 15 metropolitan cities with numbers.

 

[NW-Bound]

Phoenix is the same, or perhaps a bit higher than Seattle. Who would have thunk? OK, so that explains the traffic jam here getting worse every year.

 

[bld999]

Another look at the BEA data : per capita basis, via Bloomberg

These Are the 20 Richest Cities in America - Bloomberg Business

 

[EastWest Gal]

Another look at the BEA data : per capita basis, via Bloomberg

These Are the 20 Richest Cities in America - Bloomberg Business

The numbers are very skewed. There are a few people at the tippy top of the mountain, the Mark Zuckerburgs, the Bill Gates of the tech world, and the hedge fund managers of Wall Street, the film and media industry in LA. These people and industries drive up the GDP of an area. Also, SF and San Jose do not have large really bad inner city areas, the way LA and Philiadelphia do. What brings down cities like LA, Philadelphia and NYC are the large populations of people not doing so well. So the average is meaningless. What happens if you don't include the top 5% of earners, then what do these cities look like? And how much of the GDP is the high cost of living in so many of the high finance and West Coast cities.

I'll lay odds Des Moines, IA is a pretty nice place to live, and not as expensive.

So the message is: Work in a city, make a ton of money, then get out and go to a lower COL area in retirement.

 

[walkinwood]

The numbers are very skewed. There are a few people at the tippy top of the mountain, the Mark Zuckerburgs, the Bill Gates of the tech world, and the hedge fund managers of Wall Street, the film and media industry in LA. These people and industries drive up the GDP of an area. Also, SF and San Jose do not have large really bad inner city areas, the way LA and Philiadelphia do. What brings down cities like LA, Philadelphia and NYC are the large populations of people not doing so well. So the average is meaningless. What happens if you don't include the top 5% of earners, then what do these cities look like? And how much of the GDP is the high cost of living in so many of the high finance and West Coast cities.

I'll lay odds Des Moines, IA is a pretty nice place to live, and not as expensive.

So the message is: Work in a city, make a ton of money, then get out and go to a lower COL area in retirement.

If I am reading the article correctly, it is Output per person, not income.

I absolutely agree with your 'message'. It is what we did.

 

[48Fire]

Interesting 3D Map showing US GDP by city and state. Five states - California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois - were responsible for generating 40% of the total.

This 3D Map Visualizes the U.S. Economy In a New Way

Cool picture.........Thanks!

 

[sengsational]

I absolutely agree with your 'message'. It is what we did.

You can even do better than moving from the expensive place at retirement...if you work for a megacorp, especially one aligned with the slogan "I've Been Moved", you move to the high-dollar place and get the salary bump that comes with the move, then move back to the cheap place. Instead of taking away the bump, they just limit your raises. But to keep you happy, they still give you a small taste every year, so it takes a very long time to put you back to where you "should" be. Then you bail and don't need to move on your own dime.

 

[Huston55]

You can even do better than moving from the expensive place at retirement...if you work for a megacorp, especially one aligned with the slogan "I've Been Moved", you move to the high-dollar place and get the salary bump that comes with the move, then move back to the cheap place. Instead of taking away the bump, they just limit your raises. But to keep you happy, they still give you a small taste every year, so it takes a very long time to put you back to where you "should" be. Then you bail and don't need to move on your own dime.

This depends on how essential moving is to the industry in which one works.

I worked for a company that moved us frequently (10 moves in 30 yrs), and this approach would not have worked very well financially, or maybe at all, in my industry (Engineering & Construction Management). Without accepting new assignments (read "moves") promotions would have been fewer and farther between, and my bonuses, which were a large % of compensation, would have been very minimal; and, that's if I wasn't laid off after the 3rd or 4th "No Thank You" to an assignment offer.

In our industry, and many others with similar global business footprints, the real secret to maximizing income and minimizing expenses is to take jobs with living expenses paid and/or "uplift" (a % increase over base salary due to remoteness or hardship). Starting in San Francisco or DC, then living in Alabama, Mississippi or Kentucky just doesn't get it done financially.

Back to the OP, there was a follow-on graphic equating US State-by-State GDP to that of whole other countries. I found that VERY revealing. It adds some perspective.

 

[walkinwood]

You can even do better than moving from the expensive place at retirement...if you work for a megacorp, especially one aligned with the slogan "I've Been Moved", you move to the high-dollar place and get the salary bump that comes with the move, then move back to the cheap place. Instead of taking away the bump, they just limit your raises. But to keep you happy, they still give you a small taste every year, so it takes a very long time to put you back to where you "should" be. Then you bail and don't need to move on your own dime.

Had we known where we wanted to move before ER, I could have pulled it off. ie. Move to our current, lower cost area, before ER. But it took us 3 years after ER to figure out our destination. We're happy with how things turned out and have no regrets.