One other major factor to consider that I am not sure anyone has brought up yet is the effect of job location/cost of living on your bottom line. If you could manage to snag one of those 200k/year MBA positions, it would most likely be in NYC, right? Well, check out the cost of 2-3 br apartments, daycare, private school (since it is increasingly difficult to get your kids into good publics in NYC), etc. Your 200k/year is not going to go very far. Contrast that to 100k plus in the places you are considering -- Detroit and Cleveland? You could probably buy a whole city block for what it would cost to buy a "junior one bedroom" (aka studio) in Manhattan. Not that you'd want to live in a neighborhood where things were that cheap, but I can't imagine a nice house in even the best suburbs in the midwest costing anywhere near what NYC housing costs.
Realize you already made your decision, but maybe this is a consideration that will help reinforce that choice.
lhamo
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