Gilbert ranked No. 1 city for saving money

A new report on where people should live if they want to save money ranks Gilbert at the top and Chandler fifth.


The personal finance website GOBankingRates.com evaluated the 100 largest U.S. cities on seven essential factors affecting people’s ability to save. That included sales tax, median home prices, rent prices, household income, unemployment rate, average gas prices and grocery costs.

Gilbert came out on top followed by Plano and Lubbock, Texas, Kansas City, Mo., and Chandler.

“If you’re looking for an affordable place to live that will leave enough money in your budget to stash in savings, consider the South, Southwest or Midwest,” said Cameron Huddleston, GoBankingRates life and money columnist. “Most of the best cities for savers are in these regions, where housing costs and everyday expenses are relatively low.”

Most of the best cities for saving money are located in the South and West, including cities in Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma, while 13 out of the 15 worst cities for saving money are in California.

The three worst cities for saving were San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oakland.

A big factor is the median list price of a home, which is over three times higher in San Francisco than Gilbert.

The study also found that the median monthly rent cost ranged from $650 in Fort Wayne, Ind., to $4,650 in San Francisco.

GOBankingRates.com’s sources for the study included the Census Bureau, TaxFoundation.org, Zillow, U.S. Census QuickFacts, Bureau of Labor Statistics, GasBuddy and Numbeo. All seven factors were weighted equally.