WTOP article wrote:
WASHINGTON - Buying a cheaper house in Washington's outer suburbs may no longer be the economic bargain it used to be.

The Washington area is now one of the five most expensive metro areas in which to live and the highest for moderate income households once transportation is factored in.

Transportation costs have risen to 30 percent of expenses for families making between $44,531 and $89,063 a year.

Once the cost of housing is factored in, 72 percent of a family's income is consumed, according to a study done by the Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology.

The study analyzed 2006 to 2010 data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey for the 25 largest metropolitan areas. The research defined Washington's income range of $44,531 to $89,063 as "moderate-income," with the range representing 50 percent to 100 percent of the median income for the metro area.

Moderate income families in the Washington metro area now spend an average $1,099 a month for transportation and $1,561 a month for housing.

Ranking behind Washington for areas where households spend the most for housing and transportation are San Francisco, Boston and San Diego.

San Francisco was second with transportation costs of $973 and housing costs of $1,540.

Boston came in third with transportation costs of $1,020 and housing costs of $1,395.

San Diego was fourth. Transportation there costs $1,043 and housing $1,341.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before I bought my home, I paid $30,000 a year in Fed taxes on an income of $126,000. I am a Nurse and a single parent who worked 60 hours a week( 20 hours a week in OT) to earn that income. That same year, Mitt Romney paid less than 13% of his income in Fed Taxes. He paid a far less percentage of his income on taxes than I did. I don't think that is a fair distribution of taxation and glad that Mitt is not now in a position to see people like him cut the same deal through a legislative change in the tax code.

Wrong. Mitt had no income so he didn't have to pay federal income tax. Why do people choose to ignore basic facts (not nurse pp but the media and others who purposely mislead people by selective reporting).