The Price of a Sunny Day: Top 5 Bargain Cities for Sunshine

February 4, 2012

I recently learned that my hometown, Pueblo, Colorado, receives more sunshine than San Diego, California.  I was really surprised and began to wonder who pays the most and who pays the least for sunshine in America?  So I decided to take a look and see what I could find out.

This simple analysis assumes that all you care about is getting the most sunshine at the lowest price of housing (owning rather than renting) in the US.  According to my calculations, the best deal can be found in Abilene, Texas at $252.45 per day of annual sunshine and the worst deal would be San Francisco, California at $2,720.22 per day.

You can find the whole list at the bottom of this post or click here to see a map.  Here are the top 5 for each of the four census regions in the US:

Midwest

1. Sioux City, Iowa
2. Wichita, Kansas
3. Topeka, Kansas
4. Fort Wayne, Indiana
5. Evansville, Indiana

Northeast

1. Albany, New York
2. Binghamton, New York
3. Buffalo, New York
4. Syracuse, New York
5. Rochester, New York

I started by taking the percent sunshine figures from the National Climate Data Center (NCDC).  For each of the cities in this list I found the median value of housing for the corresponding CBSAs from the US Census Bureau.  Then I simply divided the median housing value ($) by the product of 365 days and the NCDC percent of sunshine.  So, to calculate the price of a day’s worth of annual sunshine in New York City you do the following:

• NYC median housing value = $419,200
• % annual sunshine in NYC = 58%
• Days in the year = 365
• Price of a sunny day in NYC = $419,200 ÷ (365*0.58) = $1,980.16

I know, I know.  This fails to account for taxes and other expenses.  This formula only includes 2 digits of decimal accuracy and forgets to account for leap year.  It doesn’t include all CBSAs, it includes some cities with not very many years worth of data.  There are hundreds of other ways this could be done that might be better.  Blah blah blah.  I don’t have time to write a thesis.  But I think this rough cut still reveals some interesting patterns.

On a separate page I’ve listed the Top 25 Sunniest Places ranked by housing cost.  Here is the whole ranked list (or download CSV: PriceSunnyDay) along with % Sunshine, Median home value, $ per Sunny Day.

Rank	Location	% Sunshine	Median Home	$ Per Sunny Day
1	ABILENE, TX	70%	$64,500	$252.45
2	EL PASO, TX	84%	$78,600	$256.36
3	BROWNSVILLE, TX	60%	$62,100	$283.56
4	MIDLAND-ODESSA, TX	74%	$85,200	$315.44
5	LAKE CHARLES, LA	72%	$84,200	$320.40
6	LUBBOCK, TX	72%	$84,600	$321.92
7	YUMA, AZ	90%	$106,800	$325.11
8	TUPELO, MS	64%	$81,100	$347.17
9	AMARILLO, TX	73%	$92,700	$347.91
10	FORT SMITH, AR	61%	$77,500	$348.08
11	CORPUS CHRISTI, TX	60%	$83,500	$381.28
12	SIOUX CITY, IA	61%	$88,800	$398.83
13	SHREVEPORT, LA	64%	$94,400	$404.11
14	PADUCAH, KY	58%	$86,200	$407.18
15	OKLAHOMA CITY, OK	68%	$102,600	$413.38
16	WICHITA, KS	65%	$100,900	$425.29
17	POCATELLO, ID	64%	$99,400	$425.51
18	MACON, GA	66%	$102,800	$426.73
19	PUEBLO, CO	76%	$121,700	$438.72
20	SAN ANTONIO, TX	60%	$97,200	$443.84
21	ALBANY, NY	53%	$86,700	$448.18
22	TOPEKA, KS	61%	$103,500	$464.86
23	BINGHAMTON, NY	49%	$83,900	$469.11
24	TULSA, OK	62%	$106,900	$472.38
25	FORT WAYNE, IN	59%	$102,000	$473.65
26	JACKSON, MS	61%	$106,300	$477.43
27	LITTLE ROCK, AR	62%	$108,700	$480.34
28	MONTGOMERY, AL	58%	$101,900	$481.34
29	EVANSVILLE, IN	59%	$104,500	$485.26
30	BISMARCK, ND	59%	$106,700	$495.47
31	MEMPHIS, TN	64%	$117,500	$503.00
32	GREAT FALLS, MT	61%	$112,600	$505.73
33	SPRINGFIELD, IL	58%	$107,400	$507.32
34	COLUMBIA, SC	64%	$119,800	$512.84
35	SPRINGFIELD, MO	60%	$113,500	$518.26
36	RAPID CITY, SD	63%	$120,500	$524.03
37	ALBUQUERQUE, NM	76%	$146,900	$529.56
38	TUCSON, AZ	85%	$167,400	$539.56
39	GREENVILLE, SC	60%	$119,600	$546.12
40	PEORIA, IL	56%	$111,800	$546.97
41	LYNCHBURG, VA	59%	$118,700	$551.20
42	BIRMINGHAM, AL	58%	$118,200	$558.34
43	CHATTANOOGA, TN	57%	$116,300	$559.00
44	BUFFALO, NY	48%	$99,700	$569.06
45	SYRACUSE, NY	46%	$95,800	$570.58
46	GREENSBORO, NC	60%	$125,400	$572.60
47	HOUSTON, TX	59%	$123,400	$573.02
48	FARGO, ND	57%	$123,700	$594.57
49	KNOXVILLE, TN	56%	$122,700	$600.29
50	DALLAS-FT WORTH, TX	61%	$133,900	$601.39
51	SAVANNAH, GA	62%	$136,300	$602.30
52	LINCOLN, NE	61%	$135,000	$606.33
53	CHEYENNE, WY	66%	$146,700	$608.97
54	ROCHESTER, NY	51%	$113,900	$611.87
55	BILLINGS, MT	60%	$134,400	$613.70
56	PENSACOLA, FL	60%	$135,100	$616.89
57	OMAHA, NE	60%	$135,800	$620.09
58	COLUMBIA, MO	56%	$126,800	$620.35
59	GRAND JUNCTION, CO	71%	$163,600	$631.29
60	DES MOINES, IA	59%	$136,400	$633.39
61	PITTSBURGH, PA	45%	$104,600	$636.83
62	BOISE, ID	64%	$149,400	$639.55
63	DAYTON, OH	53%	$124,400	$643.06
64	DULUTH, MN	52%	$122,400	$644.89
65	LOUISVILLE, KY	56%	$132,800	$649.71
66	HARRISBURG, PA	58%	$138,000	$651.87
67	HELENA, MT	59%	$140,500	$652.43
68	TOLEDO, OH	52%	$125,500	$661.22
69	WILMINGTON, NC	63%	$152,200	$661.88
70	KANSAS CITY, MO	60%	$145,500	$664.38
71	NEW ORLEANS, LA	57%	$138,500	$665.71
72	CHARLOTTE, NC	62%	$150,900	$666.81
73	PHOENIX, AZ	85%	$207,300	$668.17
74	TAMPA, FL	66%	$163,300	$677.87
75	INDIANAPOLIS, IN	55%	$136,500	$679.95
76	ST. LOUIS, MO	57%	$141,800	$681.57
77	CHARLESTON, SC	63%	$158,800	$690.58
78	ASHEVILLE, NC	59%	$149,900	$696.08
79	BURLINGTON, VT	49%	$125,000	$698.91
80	JACKSONVILLE, FL	63%	$162,000	$704.50
81	NASHVILLE, TN	56%	$148,500	$726.52
82	AUSTIN, TX	60%	$161,000	$735.16
83	SALT LAKE CITY, UT	66%	$177,900	$738.48
84	SPOKANE, WA	54%	$147,000	$745.81
85	REDDING, CA	88%	$240,200	$747.82
86	GREEN BAY, WI	54%	$147,400	$747.84
87	FLAGSTAFF, AZ	78%	$213,500	$749.91
88	RICHMOND, VA	63%	$173,200	$753.21
89	RALEIGH, NC	58%	$170,000	$803.02
90	ATLANTA, GA	60%	$177,200	$809.13
91	LANSING, MI	51%	$151,900	$816.01
92	CLEVELAND, OH	49%	$146,700	$820.24
93	GRAND RAPIDS, MI	46%	$141,600	$843.36
94	COLUMBUS, OH	50%	$155,600	$852.60
95	FRESNO, CA	79%	$251,000	$870.47
96	DETROIT, MI	53%	$170,600	$881.88
97	ALLENTOWN, PA	53%	$175,300	$906.18
98	LAS VEGAS, NV	85%	$289,300	$932.47
99	MILWAUKEE, WI	54%	$183,800	$932.52
100	DENVER, CO	69%	$239,100	$949.37
101	MIAMI, FL	70%	$250,000	$978.47
102	MISSOULA, MT	55%	$204,000	$1,016.19
103	PHILADELPHIA, PA	56%	$208,400	$1,019.57
104	MADISON, WI	54%	$203,200	$1,030.95
105	ATLANTIC CITY, NJ	56%	$221,800	$1,085.13
106	PORTLAND, ME	57%	$225,800	$1,085.32
107	MINNEAPOLIS, MN	58%	$235,900	$1,114.31
108	HARTFORD, CT	56%	$229,400	$1,122.31
109	RENO, NV	79%	$333,700	$1,157.27
110	BALTIMORE, MD	57%	$243,500	$1,170.39
111	CONCORD, NH	54%	$231,700	$1,175.55
112	CHICAGO, IL	54%	$233,500	$1,184.68
113	PORTLAND, OR	48%	$228,400	$1,303.65
114	PROVIDENCE, RI	58%	$294,900	$1,393.01
115	SACRAMENTO, CA	78%	$396,900	$1,394.10
116	ANCHORAGE, AK	41%	$217,500	$1,453.39
117	EUREKA, CA	51%	$300,700	$1,615.36
118	HONOLULU, HI	71%	$457,700	$1,766.16
119	SEATTLE, WA	43%	$290,200	$1,849.00
120	BOSTON, MA	58%	$394,800	$1,864.90
121	LOS ANGELES, CA	73%	$520,000	$1,951.59
122	NEW YORK, NY	58%	$419,200	$1,980.16
123	WASHINGTON, D.C.	56%	$404,900	$1,980.92
124	HILO, HI	41%	$329,900	$2,204.48
125	SAN DIEGO, CA	68%	$552,000	$2,224.01
126	KAHULUI, HI	67%	$573,400	$2,344.71
127	KEY WEST, FL	76%	$683,200	$2,462.87
128	SAN FRANCISCO, CA	66%	$655,300	$2,720.22