Surprised? Not Really!

According to a recent survey from Salary.com, “the best city in which to build vast personal wealth is Plano.”

An excerpt from the article reads:

Salary.com's "2008 Salary Value Index" surveyed 69 metropolitan areas with more than 250,000 people and ranked the best and worst places to build personal wealth and raise a family. Rounding out the top five cities where it's easiest to get rich include Plano, Texas (1), Aurora, Colorado (2), Omaha, Nebraska (3); Minneapolis, Minnesota (4), and Albuquerque, New Mexico (5).

New York's high cost of living placed the city at the bottom of this year's list. Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Honolulu, and San Francisco rounded out the worst five cities. Elsewhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Arlington ranked at number 34, Fort Worth was 38, and Dallas ranked 45. Other Texas cities on the list were Austin at 13, San Antonio at 24, and Houston at 28.

Salary.com said each city at the top of the list is in a period of growth and change and offers appealing amenities. Many of the nation's largest companies are based in those cities, making them attractive for doing business and raising a family. The cities at the bottom of the list typically represent the places where living is the most expensive and pay differentials are not proportionately inflated. Although they may have high ratings in terms of diversity of industry and education, cost of living and relative strength of wages offset many of the appealing qualities offered by these cities, Salary.com said.

"The city (Plano) has a reputation as one of the best places in the country for employers to do business and for families to live and work. They have a nationally acclaimed public education system and well-educated, diverse residents," Salary.com said.

In compiling its survey, Salary.com took into account local salaries, the cost of living and unemployment rates relative to the national average. It also considered diversity of industry, the education level of each city's population, proximity to post-secondary institutions, the percentage of residents below the poverty level and median commuting time. Visit the website www.salary.com for more information.