SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The median household income in 2018 was $61,937, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. A recently published financial study says Spokane Valley is one of the best places to live on that salary.
SmartAsset, a personal finance technology company headquartered in New York, analyzed data from 109 cities across nine metrics: median household income, median monthly housing costs, housing costs as a percentage of income, entertainment and civic establishments per 10,000 residents, percentage of people without health insurance, average commute time, unemployment rate and the poverty rate.
The study found that a family earning $60,000 should be able to comfortably afford housing costs in cities where the median household income is between $55,000 and $65,000. Median housing costs make up less than 24% of a $60,000 income in the 109 cities included in the study, according to SmartAsset.
Spokane Valley ranked No. 15 out of the 109 cities, with a median household income estimated at $55,445 and an unemployment rates of 3.1 percent. The study also outlines other metrics for Spokane Valley, including an average commute to work of 20 minutes and 3.4 entertainment establishments per 10,000 residents.
Other cities around the Northwest also ranked within the top 25.
Billings, Montana, ranked No. 2, with a median household income of $57,692. The city also had the ninth-lowest percentage of residents without health insurance of those included in the study. Billings also ranks at No. 11 for its low average commute time and unemployment rate.
Bend, Oregon, sits right below Spokane Valley at No. 16 and Boise, Idaho, was ranked No. 18.
