Cities Most Affordable for Single People

The Economist is out with its annual "Carrie Bradshaw Index," an homage to the Sex and the City character that ranks 100 major cities in terms of affordability for singles. The key metric is the cost of rent, along with the rule of thumb that it should not consume more than 30% of a person's gross income. The upshot is that Carrie Bradshaw could live her most frugal life in Wichita, Kansas. The city's "Bradshaw score" is 1.75, which means median wages are 75% higher than the cost of an average studio apartment.

Most affordable cities, as culled from the list by Fortune:

1. Wichita, Kansas: average rent, $585; required income, $23,400
2. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: $715; $28,600
3. Lincoln, Nebraska: $715; $28,600
4. Des Moines, Iowa: $735; $29,400
5. Akron, Ohio; $725: $29,000

Read the full story for more details, including that in Carrie's beloved Manhattan, rent typically runs $3,811, requiring singletons to pull in more than $150,000 to live affordably.