WRAL TechWire: Study – Raleigh ties Pittsburgh for best quality of life choice as Amazon HQ2 choice

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From WRAL TechWire by Rick Smith — January 23, 2018

RALEIGH – A new study from financial news website MagnifyMoney rates Raleigh and Pittsburgh as the best choices for Amazon HQ2 based on financial and quality of life issues.

Both cities also are among the final 20 metro areas selected last week by Amazon for the 50,000-job project. (Actually, Amazon is considering the entire Triangle for the project, as confirmed Monday.)


New York rated worst with the three sites near Washington, D.C. ranking next worst.

“We trust that Amazon is doing a great job of evaluating (and negotiating) the core criteria and key preferences they deem essential to their business operations,” explained study author Kali McFadden, an analyst at Charlotte-based LendingTree, the parent company of MagnifyMoney. “We wanted to take a closer look at what each of these cities can offer their rank and file employees, both local and transferred.”

The study focused on financial drivers including living and affordable housing as well as “key quality of life factors” such as weather and the average commute time, and whether the housing stock has slack to support an influx of jobs,” the news site says.

Each city received a score of 78 out of 100 based on a set of seven criteria:

  • Average commute time (in minutes)

  • Median monthly housing costs

  • Cost of living index (non-housing)

  • Temperate climate, as measured by the difference between the highest and lowest average temperatures across twelve months (a lower range ranked higher)

  • Marginal income tax rate for a single filer earning $100,000 in taxable income (state, federal and city)

  • Vacancy rate of rental homes

  • Vacancy rate of owner-occupied homes

Here’s how Raleigh scored:

1. Raleigh offers 4 mild seasons and is already home to a thriving tech population

  1. Monthly median housing cost: $1,051

  2. Avg. commute time: 26 minutes

  3. Climate: Between the hottest and coldest day, there was a difference of 38 degrees.

And Pittsburgh:

1. Pittsburgh combines a low cost of living with a decent commute time of just 26 minutes. Bring a jacket. The weather is on the chilly side.

  1. Monthly median housing cost: $791

  2. Avg. commute time: 26 minutes

  3. Climate: Between the hottest and coldest day, there was a difference of 46 degrees

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