Monday, December 7, 2009, 10:16am MST | Modified: Monday, December 7, 2009, 10:01pm

Denver near the middle in Forbes report on affordable cities

Denver Business Journal

When it comes to affordable cities with stable employment and good housing markets, a new Forbes.com report ranks Denver as a bit better than average.

Forbes puts Denver at No. 43 out of 100 large U.S. metro areas on a list of the "Best Bang for the Buck Cities."

The survey looked at factors like commute times, home vacancies, housing affordability, real estate taxes, unemployment and jobs forecast.

The Denver-Aurora area ranks 14th among the 100 cities for low unemployment, 17th for best home-price forecast, and 20th for best job forecast.

On the other hand, Forbes ranks Denver 82nd out of 100 for typical travel times, 78th for housing affordability, and 71st for rental-home vacancies.

The "best bang for the buck" list is topped by Omaha-Council Bluffs, Iowa; Little Rock, Ark; and Jackson, Miss.

The lowest-ranked communities on the list include the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island metro area (No. 98), Miami (No. 99) and Los Angeles (No. 100).

Click here for the Forbes report. And click here for the full list of 100 cities.

denvernews@bizjournals.com