Top 25 Cities for Designers and Artists

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Photo: Franco Folini | CreativeCommons

Now more than ever, it’s important to get the best bang for your buck. And there’s no question about it — when it comes to value, not every U.S. city is created equally.

Why chase a great salary if your rent swallows most of it, unemployment is skyrocketing and you spend two hours a day just to get to and from work?

So, which cities offer the most overall value in 2009?

Only the top 25 have made the list — and some may surprise you! After examining various city lists, weighing the rankings and taking note of our personal opinions, we’ve produced a list of cities that’s sure to offer something for everyone. While all of these communities have a healthy art and design community the emphasis on this list is the cost of living.

Our Criteria

We looked at cities' growth rates, average salaries and costs of living.

We factored in average commute time — which, according to experts, has a colossal impact on your overall happiness.

We looked not only at unemployment figures, but also at the rate that unemployment has actually increased since February 2008.

Thinking of relocating for better job prospects? Need to compare two top contenders? Just curious to see where your city ranks? We’ve got you covered. Read on!

Start Here! City #25 >>

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Thurmond

3 months ago

506 comments

WOw The City real close to me made it Carolina is certainly on the design map
cscholz

3 months ago

4 comments

I can understand why they didn't put the "big" cities on this list. One of the criteria was the unemployment rate. I live near NYC and can tell you there are major job cuts in the city. So, if 10% of the population has filed for unemployment, this will knock it out of the list.

Another, is the cost of living compared to the income. Living near the city (NYC), I know that if you are lucky enough to have a job. The company most likely has cut your hours, or salary in order to cut costs and prevent layoffs. So, the income has decreased and the cost of living has gone up as. Which makes these cities not really the best choice to live and work in.

The cities mentioned, like San Antonio and Austin have been least affected by the economic downward spiral. Lower unemployment rates, steady income, lower cost of living.
kustmhog

3 months ago

1946 comments

Salt Lake ? are you kidding? This really is a joke....right?? Years ago the U of U had a really good art dept. under the direction of Jon Anderson,Park City,(that lil' place on the hill that fought- off the mormon influence),does have a couple places that are "artsy" Still....I don't see it a viable art mecca!!
I like how the incredibly high taxes,very low wage,and high cost of living didn't get mentioned.Hell...that's not very "artist friendly".
k28560

3 months ago

20 comments

Some of these really surprised me.
2bartist

5 months ago

134 comments

I love San Diego! I lived there for 6 years but moved back to Northern Illinois. What's wrong with me?
angelnalagon

5 months ago

38 comments

I live in top 6 YEAH!
Delcia1980

5 months ago

248 comments

Wow I finally got a chance to look at this list!! And it sucks!! Props for Boston for being on the list. But LA, NYC and South Florida was no where on the list. And I'm sure Chicago is booming with the arts. But this crap doesn't give you any info in regards to museums, graphic arts,anything!! They say salary for what position or area!! Everyone is right here: it looks more like advertising for the best place to live!
DonPelton

5 months ago

44 comments

Denver is on the list, which is nice to a Colorado Transplant.
DonPelton

5 months ago

44 comments

I lived in San Diego in the late 70's. It was not an easy town to find a local art market at the time. Perhaps I didn't know where to look.
Roxcoe

6 months ago

8 comments

I havnt been to all these cities, but I definitely do not agree with it, San Diego is much more prosperous than any city in Texas...
skr1bner

6 months ago

30 comments

This list is a bit of bull. This doesn't tell me anything I couldn't find out through five minutes on the web, or talking on the phone with friends that live in these places. You know, for an artist-oriented site, there is no information on arts communities within these cities. Interesting cop-out. I bet this list was just copied and pasted from some apartment-finder site.
ironwoodrick

6 months ago

1058 comments

very questionable I live in #5 say it ain't so!
angelnalagon

6 months ago

38 comments

Yes definitely I use to live in SD
Hungristartist

6 months ago

72 comments

Yep, I agree, this list is WHACK! No large cities like NYC or here in LosAngeles where it rocks!
bbrad2

6 months ago

92 comments

Lame article, must have taken 15 minutes to look up the average salary data for designers and artists and add it to a general blurb about the cities employment situation. Where is the information specific to designers and artists? That would be useful. What companies are hiring and who are they hiring?

And seriously, making me a user click through 25 pages to read three sentences on each page is hyper lame, even if it is great for "page views" and banner ad views.