Stephanie Guzman, Reporter at Albuquerque Business First:

In this week’s cover story, Business First took a data dive into the cost of living in Albuquerque.

Our parent company, American City Business Journals, compiled data on a range of items, from the cost of eggs to the price of an Uber rise from Downtown to the airport, for 44 cities across the U.S., including Albuquerque.

Ultimately, we found that Albuquerque was cheaper than the national average on most items. Yet the difference in the price of grocery items between Albuquerque and Los Angeles, or the cost of a movie ticket between the Duke City and Austin, didn’t differ substantially.

One category where Albuquerque really shined was in housing costs.

A home in Albuquerque’s most expensive ZIP code, the far Northeast Heights, didn’t even top the $500,000 mark, unlike many markets that hit $1 million or more.

We asked Gary Oppedahl, director of Albuquerque's Economic Development Department, whether housing costs play a factor in companies deciding to locate here.

Oppedahl said while it's one of many factors, it's an important one.

“So many of these companies are interested in finding affordable locations,” said Oppedahl. “When you see companies that are looking to expand outside of California, often times they're looking in the western U.S., and Albuquerque is attractive to them because it has very good affordability." Click here to read the full article.