Temple ranked ninth in U.S. for affordability

TEMPLE – Temple was named the ninth most affordable city in the nation to live in, according to a recent study from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine using cost of living data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The study found that Temple’s cost of living is 12.9 percent below the national average. A typical home in Temple costs $100,000 less than a similar home in Austin and household incomes are almost as high as those in Austin.

Median household income, which was listed at about $50,000, has been growing for several years now, said Charlie Ayers, vice president of the Temple Economic Development Corp.

“We’re really happy with the increases in household income we’ve been seeing for the last two or three years,” Ayers said. “With a lower cost of living and higher household income, we get to keep more of our money to spend on things.”

Other Texas cities to make the top ten were top-ranked Harlingen and eighth-ranked Wichita Falls.