Personal finance services website GOBankingRates recently named Plano the No. 2 city in America where a paycheck goes the furthest. In its listing of the top 40 cities where one can get the most bang for one's buck, Plano landed just behind Gilbert, Arizona, southeast of Phoenix.
For the study, GOBankingRates took the top 100 American cities by population and considered factors including cost of living, average household expenditures, average home values and average mortgage payments. Plano scored high in all areas.
“Residents of Plano spend just 55% of their median household income on necessities,” an AOL recap of the study noted. “Thanks to a varied job market made up of lucrative telecommunications, technology and finance industries, the median income there is high. That means the average Plano resident has nearly $50,000 left over after paying bills and monthly mortgage.”
Why Plano?
If you follow this sort of thing and you have something against Plano, you might be getting tired of seeing the Collin County ‘burb mentioned in such superlative terms. Recent surveys have named Plano the top place to live in the U.S. and a top spot for renters.In all fairness, there’s a reason for the praise. Plano schools are consistently highly rated, although Plano ISD has closed some campuses recently. The area is home to a high number of corporate headquarters, so the job market there is typically a strong one. The crime rate is relatively low, while parks and green spaces are plentiful.
The key to Plano’s high ranking on this list is just how much money is left over for the year, once the main bills are paid. GOBankingRates lists Plano’s median household income at $108,649 and an annual cost of necessities at $59,976, which means in this equation, there is $48,673 left over.
Many other North Texas cities fared well in the study, with Fort Worth coming in at No. 11 with $30,146 left over. Irving landed at No. 12 with $29,982 left each year after necessities for the average household and Garland showed $28,432 left over for the year to land at No. 14 nationally.
