Maybe it’s the city’s proximity to an entertainment hub. Or maybe it’s because Long Beach is full of fiercely independent citizens. Either way, the website NerdWallet ranked Long Beach as the 10th Best City for Freelancers in the country.
The study evaluated factors such as income, living expenses, health insurance and cell phone coverage.
The South made a strong showing on the list, and cities with populations smaller than one million were more likely to score high for freelancers.
“Dallas, the only place in the top 10 with a population over a million, made the list,” the study stated. “By contrast, half of our top 10 places have populations less than 500,000. Two of those five — Mesa, Arizona, and Long Beach — are adjacent to larger cities.
Long Beach tied with San Francisco for its concentration of number of freelancers, placing just behind Sacramento and just above Omaha, Nebraska. However, according to the study’s figures, Long Beach had a lower overall percentage of income ($1,806) when factoring in cost of housing, health insurance and cell phone costs.
The city also had the second-highest rent among the top 10, according to the study, coming in at $1,144 per month.
On the other hand, the cities in the top three spots had monthly median rents around $1,000 or lower, with median incomes close to $2,000.
The top 10 cities for freelancers ranked as follows:
- Austin, Texas (median income after taxes: $2,179; median rent: $1,084)
- Nashville, Tennessee (median income: $1,671; median rent: $887)
- Dallas, Texas (median income: $1,713 median rent: $861)
- Atlanta, Georgia (median income: $1,820; median rent: $962)
- Louisville, Kentucky (median income: $1,574; median rent: $721)
- San Francisco, California (median income: $2,658; median rent: $1,587)
- Mesa, Arizona (median income: $1,717; median rent: $888)
- Fort Worth, Texas (median income: $1,616; median rent: $913)
- Sacramento, California (median income: $1,903; median rent: $993)
- Long Beach, California (median income: $1,806; median rent: $1,144)